BMX Racing: Learning from losing.

Harley went into the Gosport National BMX race with two goals: 1. Do his best. 2. Never give up. A few years ago, that second goal would have been almost impossible for him. The moment he realised he couldn’t win, the old Harley would often lose motivation. Like many young riders, if the result he wanted wasn’t possible, it felt like there was no point continuing. Over time, we’ve worked hard on changing that mindset. Because the reality is that winning isn’t something you can control. You can’t control who turns up, how fast they are, whether someone has the race of their life, or whether luck goes your way. What you can control is your effort, your attitude, and whether you keep trying when things aren’t going your way. You can't always control or prevent it going wrong... In this video, we also share clips of BMX legend Shanaze Reade. For years, Shanaze dominated the sport. She was the overwhelming favourite to win gold in the first-ever Women’s Olympic BMX Final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But with victory almost within reach, she crashed in the final corner and lost everything she had worked for. The devastation on her face is hard to watch even today. Of course, the heartbreak of losing an Olympic gold medal after dedicating your life to a sport is not comparable to the disappointment of a six-year-old losing a BMX race. And yet, all too often, the emotions can look remarkably similar. We see young riders heartbroken because they didn’t win. We see children giving up because they realise first place isn’t possible. We see results becoming more important than effort, courage, improvement, and resilience. That’s why this race mattered. Not because Harley won. Not because he stood on a podium. But because when things didn’t go exactly as he hoped, he kept going anyway - and that’s the biggest victory of all. #bmxracing #bmxracer