Khalen Young

Last updated

Khalen Young
Personal information
NationalityAustralian/Indigenous
Born20 November 1984 (1984-11-20) (age 39)
Perth, Western Australia
Sport
CountryFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Sport Cycling
Event BMX
TeamMVKBMX - The West Coast Syndicate
Retired2013
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals Current – Men's BMX London Olympics 2012
World finals2007 UCI Elite Men Silver Medal. 2007 UCI SX World Cup Winner
National finals2007 Australian Elite Men Champion. 2008 ABA AA Pro National #1

Khalen Young (born 20 November 1984) is an Australian racing cyclist who represents Australia in BMX. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event, reaching the semi-final. [1]

Young Young grew up in Kalgoorlie and then Perth in Western Australia, and followed his elder brothers into riding BMX bikes. He is Indigenous and the second youngest of six children. His grandmother's family was part of the Aboriginal "stolen generation". He had great success in junior competitions, before making the senior Australian team and competing in the Brazil World Championships in 2002. In 2004 he quit the sport, deciding to compete again only when BMX was entered into the 2008 Olympic games in 2007. He moved to California to complete professionally, winning many US competitions. [2] In 2007 he won the opening round of the World Cup Supercross, and the Australian National championships. At the 2007 World Championships in Victoria, Canada, he won silver. In 2007 he won the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Madrid.

In 2008 his former wife gave birth to their daughter Riley. He withdrew from the world titles in May to be there for the birth, thus missing selection to the Olympic Team. Instead he won the sport's most demanding accolade, Number 1 AA Pro at the 2008 ABA National. [3] In 2011 he was second at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

He was selected for the 2012 Olympics Australian team. In London he fell and ruptured a disc, but continued to the semi-finals before falling again and withdrawing. He retired from international competitive racing in 2012, and decided to retire entirely from the BMX racing in 2013. Khalen moved back to Perth in early 2014 and had his second child, Kruze Axl Young in 2015 with his current wife Michelle Young.

He is recognized in the Australian Olympic Committee list of Australian Indigenous Olympians. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanaze Reade</span> English bicycle motocross rider and track cyclist (born 1988)

Shanaze Danielle Reade is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships three times. Reade is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Irish mother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donny Robinson (BMX racer)</span> American Professional BMX racer

Donald Robinson is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1999 to the present. His moniker is "dR", his initials. The use of the lowercase "d" for his given name is perhaps related to his relatively diminutive physical size. A past nickname, "Scrawny", was definitely linked to his small stature, since even when very young he was the smallest child in his age group. It was given to him by Bruce Minton. Like BMX predecessors Mike Miranda and Eric Rupe, Robinson is a devout Christian. He admitted in late 2013 to suffering at least 25 concussions over the course of his career. In the same interview, he advocated for better concussion protocol at the lower levels of BMX racing. Robinson joined the board of directors of concussion-education collaborative The Knockout Project in January 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Phillips</span> British BMX cyclist

Liam Peter Phillips is a BMX racing cyclist representing Great Britain. In 2013 he won the UCI BMX World Championships, his first.

Jared Graves is an Australian cyclist who has represented Australia in BMX, four-cross (4X), and downhill mountain biking. In 2006, he finished second in the mountain bike 4x world cup series. In 2008 he finished second in the BMX world cup series and was selected to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he finished sixth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Walker (BMX rider)</span> New Zealand BMX racer

Sarah Louise Walker is a New Zealand BMX racer. A competitor at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, she won silver in the Women's BMX at the latter event. Missing out on selection for the 2016 Summer Olympics due to injury, she was elected onto the IOC Athletes' Commission during those Games. In 2022, she was elected as its second vice-chair.

Caroline Buchanan is an Australian cyclist who has won multiple world championships in BMX racing and mountain biking. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event.

Lauren Reynolds is an Australian cyclist. She represented Australia in the individual BMX event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Brethauer</span> German racing cyclist

Luis Brethauer is a German racing cyclist who represents Germany in BMX.

Emilio Andrés Falla Buchely is an Ecuadorian racing cyclist who represents Ecuador in BMX. He represented Ecuador at the 2008 And 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connor Fields (BMX rider)</span> American professional BMX racer

Connor Evan Fields is an American professional BMX racer. He represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event and finished 7th overall. He represented the United States again at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event. He won the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, and became the first American to win an Olympic BMX gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tory Nyhaug</span> Canadian racing cyclist (born 1992)

Tory Nyhaug is a retired Canadian racing cyclist who represented Canada in BMX. He represented Canada at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event. He won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2014 and a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

Twan van Gendt is a Dutch racing cyclist who represents the Netherlands in BMX. He was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event, where he placed 5th in the final. In June 2015, he competed in the European Games|inaugural European Games, for the Netherlands in cycling, more specifically, Men's BMX. He earned a silver medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Smulders</span> Dutch racing cyclist (born 1993)

Laura Smulders is a Dutch racing cyclist who represents the Netherlands in BMX. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event where she won the bronze medal.

Sam Willoughby is an Australian former BMX racing cyclist. He won an Olympic silver medal in 2012. He suffered a career-ending injury in 2016 and has since worked on his own rehabilitation, and as his wife's coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanya Bailey</span> Australian BMX rider (born 1981)

Tanya Bailey is an Australian amateur BMX cyclist. Bailey has been a part of the national BMX cycling team for more than 10 years but granted her first and only opportunity to represent her nation, Australia, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she became a semifinalist in the women's elite category. In that same year, Bailey has also achieved ample success in the sport, finishing second at the Australian national championships and the Supercross World Cup, held in Adelaide, South Australia. Throughout her sporting career, Bailey has been training with her personal and assistant national coach Wade Bootes for the Wanneroo BMX Club in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Anthony Dean is an Australian BMX cyclist. He qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics & The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and competed in the men's BMX Racing.

Saya Sakakibara is an Australian cyclist competing in BMX racing events.

Bethany Kate Shriever is an elite British cyclist, competing as a BMX racer. A World Junior champion in 2017, and winner of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup final event in Zolder in 2018, in 2021 Shriever won both the Olympic and World titles, equalling the feat of Colombian legend Mariana Pajón, who won Olympic silver. In 2022 Shriever completed the full set of gold medals by winning the 2022 UEC BMX Racing European Championships; in doing so, she became the first BMX racing cyclist in history to hold all three titles simultaneously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kye Whyte</span> British male BMX rider

Kye Whyte is a British male BMX racer. He was a silver medallist at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He competed in the fourteenth series of Dancing on Ice in 2022.

Zoe Claessens is a Swiss BMX racing cyclist.

References

  1. "Men's BMX Racing". London 2012 Olympics. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. "Khalen Young: Hell of a Ride". SBS TV Australia, Away From Country Series 1 Episode 3.
  3. Khalen Young: Hell of a Ride. SBS TV Australia, Away From Country Series 1 Episode 3.
  4. "Australian Indigenous Olympians" (PDF). Australian Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 10 May 2015.