Kelvin Batey gets his season underway tonight when he races an Elite class event in the Manchester cycling centre. The Irishman is aiming to make his first Olympic Games this year but his qualification all comes down to the World Championships in Colombia in May.
World BMX champion Kelvin Batey gets his season underway this weekend when he takes part in a supercross (SX) event at the Manchester cycling centre on Saturday night.
The 34-year old hasn’t raced for seven months but with the Olympics looming, the Rio hopeful is keen to get his race sharpness back in time for the one and only qualifying event in May.
The world championships in Colombia, on May 28th and 29th are what it’s all about for Batey.
He will have one chance and one chance only to secure qualification for what would be a maiden Olympics at the age of 35 years.
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He faces a battle to get there but one that he hopes he can win, though he is seeking sponsorship for the campaign ahead.
“I feel good, I’m not in the peak of where I’ll be come Colombia but so far training is all going well and I’m looking forward to racing,” he said.
“This is my first race in seven months but I need to get into race mode and see where I’m at.
“By the time Colombia comes around I’ll have ironed out any problems. It’ll be more training than anything,” he said of Saturday night's contest.
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Qualification for Rio will be no sure thing by any means for Batey who doesn’t have the luxury of being part of a top BMX nation.
“There are no races apart from the Worlds in Colombia that go towards qualifying for Rio, it’s all on the day,” he said.
While there have been many races up to now to gain qualification points and the top ranking nations will secure Olympic places via those rankings, Batey is on his own and putting his eggs in the Worlds basket.
“I think nations ranked 1-4 can send three riders, nations 5-8 get to send two and nations 9-15 can send one,” he said of how the stronger countries will get their riders to Rio.
However, the nations that haven’t qualified riders through that system must rely on race day in Colombia.
“With the nation rankings, it’s the best 3 riders’ scores from a country that count towards the rankings," he explained.
“But because it’s only me from Ireland there’s no way I could go up against three good riders from another country so Colombia will be crunch time for me.
“After that weekend in May we’ll know exactly what’s happening and whether I’m going or not. And with BMX, anything can happen so it’s all on the day.”
Batey is seeking sponsorship for his efforts to get to Rio; an opportunity that may bring some great publicity for the sponsor if he qualifies, as many expect.
Batey can be contacted via his Facebook account.
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