Diehm regains national title while Grace upsets the field at #BMXFS24

Natalya Diehm has won her fourth Australian national championship, while Sam Grace stunned the crowd and judges in Melbourne to win his first ever national title at the BMX Freestyle National Championships.

With a rider’s best score from their two runs counted as their final ranking, competitors had nothing to lose in the humid conditions inside RampFest Indoor Skatepark.

Elite Women:

Natalya Diehm has taken another step towards earning a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, winning her fourth national title and first since 2021 with an explosive run in Melbourne this afternoon.

Looking laser-focused on the start ramp of her first run, top qualifyer Diehm combined height and extension in her tricks to impress the judges, with a small dab landing a backflip late in the run the only blemish.

Diehm’s biggest contender on Sunday was defending champion Sarah Nicki, who put the disappointment of yesterday’s fall in qualifying behind her with two high-quality runs. However, Nicki ultimately just fell short of her fellow Australia to claim silver, with Germany’s Kim Lea Mueller in third.

Diehm’s margin may have been even greater when she chased an alley-oop flair in her second run – what would have been a world-first by a female competitor – but couldn’t stick the landing. However, the Tokyo Olympian was nonetheless elated with the result.

“I felt really good all week honestly, and I'm very proud of myself with what I put down,” Diehm told AusCycling.

“I feel like I'm only just hitting my peak now at 26 when I thought I was done, with all my injuries, so I honestly feel over the moon.”

“Unfortunately, in my second run, I was going for a girl’s world first, and it was a 50-50 chance whether I was going to get it or not, so I thought may as well go for it and hopefully it pays off, but today it didn’t and I'll just come back from redemption another time, but yeah, really happy with how I rode.”

Diehm and Nicki will now head to Japan for the opening round of the 2024 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup on 22-25 February.

Elite Men:

Sam Grace has defeated his more favoured opponents with a stunning display of confidence and athleticism to claim the 2024 men elite national title.

After a flawless opening run that featured an alley-oop 720 transfer and 540 flair, Grace upgraded some of his tricks on his final run, adding a bar spin to no-handed back flip and squeezing out a 540 on the buzzer.

ARA Australian Cycling team riders Alec Danelutti and Brandon Loupos couldn’t match the Victorian’s barnstorming efforts. After aborting his first run, Danelutti looked much stronger through his second run, but wasn’t entirely clean on some of the landings, relegating him to second place. Loupos similarly came unstuck on the landing of a double backflip on his first run, before putting together a smooth second run, good enough for third overall.

A popular winner in front of the Victoria crowd, Grace was pleased that he was able to improve his finals run after qualifying in second place.

“Yeah, I was really happy. I just did the run I wanted, and that’s all I really cared about,” Grace said.

“Yesterday I did the 540 and I missed my trick after the 540 box. Today I got it when it counted, so it was good.”

“This year I want to do lots of competitions is my focus, so I'm going to make it happen this year.”

Amateurs

William Spedding has emerged as a name to watch for the future, as the next generation of BMX Freestylers put on a show for the RampFest crowds in the amateur categories.

In a field of 12 finalists, Spedding stood out as the rider most capable of joining the elite ranks in 2025, putting together a strong run to win the gold medal from Brodie Quick and last year’s Under 15 national champion Koby Carrol.

All three female finalists put together sound runs, but Kayla Mccormick’s aerial tricks stood out from her opponents, earning her the gold medal to go with the Under 15s gold medal she won in 2023. Kebe Stanford-Modini also stepped up from her bronze medal in the Under 15 category last year to win amateur silver in 2024, while Lillian Cotter went one better than last year’s forth in securing bronze.

Juniors

Rafael Manning and Slater Lyttle have repeated as gold and silver medallists respectively in the Under 11s male category, with Hunter Mackellar also repeating as Under 11s female champion.

Koby Clayton also went back-to-back in the Under 13 boys, while Evie Simpson took out the Under 15 girls title after winning the Under 13 crown in 2023. Malakai Kopman has also improved from fourth in the Under 15s last year to gold medallist in 2023.

Final Standings

Sunday Replay

Event Hub

Under 7 girls

1. Georgie Lenton

Under 7 boys

1. Ari Townsend
2. Heath Richards

Under 11 boys

1. Rafael Manning
2. Slatter Lyttle
3. Lennox Lenton

Under 11 girls

1. Hunter Mackellar
2. Kaia Sullivan

Under 13 boys

1. Koby Clayton
2. Emilio Martin
3. Archie Buggy

Under 15 girls

1. Evie Simpson
2. Alirah Norris
3. Trinity Markwell

Under 15 boys

1. Malakai Kopman
2. James Cotter
3. Felix Stokes

Amateur girls

1. Kayla Mccormick
2. Kebe Stanford-Modini
3. Lillian Cotter

Amateur boys

1. William Spedding
2. Brodie Quick
3. Koby Carroll

Elite women

1. Natalya Diehm
2. Sarah Nicki
3. Kim Lea Mueller (GER)

Elite men

1. Sam Grace
2. Alec Danelutti
3. Brandon Loupos

The 2024 AusCycling BMX Freestyle National Championships are proudly presented by RampFest in partnership with Maribyrnong City Council & the Victorian State Government

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Images: Gorak Photos