BMX champion Logan Martin will hold his Logan heritage close to his heart as he prepares to win his second Olympic gold.
“I hope it gives the younger generation in Logan City some inspiration to go out there and work hard towards any dreams they may have,” Martin said.
“Because I too was just a young kid from Logan that wanted to achieve some goals. t
“I’m very excited to experience another Olympic Games.
“Feels amazing to have qualified and to represent the green and gold again.”
Mr Martin, a Crestmead-raised freestyle cyclist, was the first person to ever win Olympic gold in bicycle motocross (BMX) at the sport’s debut in 2021.
Representing the country is something he doesn’t take for granted.
“It’s everything I work so hard for,” he said.
“The past three years since Tokyo, all my energy has been focused towards competing and qualifying for the Olympic games again.”
Mr Martin first tried BMX freestyle at age 12.
His father would find old mattresses to soften his fall when he crashed.
“Dad brought down three mattresses and a wheelbarrow, which he used to move some sand from the nearby sandpit over to the ramp to help soften the landing even more,” Mr Martin told The Australian Olympic Committe.
“The only problem was, a few days later the council would take the mattresses away while we were at school – so Dad would have to do it all again.”
Mr Martin honed his skills at parks across the city, including at Crestmead and Beenleigh.
The now 30-year-old won his first international competition in 2012 and dominated competitions both domestically and internationally in the following years.
His X-Games debut was in 2016, where he won silver.
He has won five golds, four silvers, and three bronzes in subsequent X-Games competitions.
Mr Martin made history in Tokyo by winning the first ever men’s Olympic gold medal in freestyle BMX.
And he did so by only performing his “easy tricks”.
Mr Martin secured the gold medal in his first 60-second run, which scored 93.3 out of 99.99.
No other competitors matched the score in either of their two runs.
In the Paris Olympics he’s hoping to place first – this time in front of a real audience.
Due to Covid restrictions at the Tokyo games the competition played out in front of almost empty grandstands.
“Being there with some packed grandstands is going to create a pretty epic environment and I can’t wait to fell that sort of rush that you’re going to get riding at the Olympics in front of a packed crowd,” he said.
He said the support from Australia was “massively important” to him.
