Burnham-On-Sea’s Liam Phillips has been selected to compete for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games this summer.
On Friday, the British Olympic Association named Liam among 26 cyclists who will compete at the Olympics in Brazil.
Liam, a 2012 London Olympics finalist, said on social media: “Officially selected to represent Team GB in Rio this summer! I can’t wait to race at my 3rd Olympic Games.”
The BMX cyclist has been an active member of Burnham-On-Sea BMX Club since the age of four and is a former pupil of Berrow School and Highbridge’s King Alfred School.
Burnham’s Mayor Cllr Michael Clarke told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This is great news – I’m so pleased for Liam. It’s a great accomplishment to have reached the Olympics for a third time, and we all wish him well this summer.”
Liam started cycling in 1994 when he was just five-years-old and in 1999 won his first European BMX championship title. More success at European level ensued, including three bronze medals before being accepted onto the Olympic Academy Programme in 2005.
In 2008, aged 19, Liam made it to the quarter-final at the Beijing Olympic Games in which BMX made its debut.
In 2011, Liam was asked to train with the track sprint programme, having shown the power output potential to bid for the man one position in the men’s team sprint. He spent six months training on the track before making the decision to return to BMX.
At the 2012 BMX world championships, Phillips won silver but in the first race of the supercross however, he crashed and broke his collarbone ten weeks out from the London 2012 Olympic Games.
A remarkable recovery followed and on August 10th, he lined up in the final of the men’s BMX competition but halfway round the course his foot unclipped from his pedal and crashed out of the race.
At the 2013 BMX world championships, Phillips won all of his races on his way to the rainbow jersey in Auckland, New Zealand.
Phillips has won back-back time-trial and supercross doubles at the 2013 and 2014 Manchester UCI BMX Supercross World Cups.
A badly-timed undercut by Frenchman Damien Godet saw Philips wiped out in the 1/8 finals as he attempted to defend his world title in 2014. He finished the season on a high though, as he was crowned UCI BMX Supercross World Cup champion, the first British male to win the title.
In 2015, wins in Manchester, Angelholm and Santiago del Estero saw Phillips make history as he became the first man to win back-to-back UCI BMX Supercross World Cup titles.
This year, Liam won the Manchester round of the UCI BMX Supercross world cup for the fourth consecutive year.
