WA wins bid to host world BMX championship

27/7/00

Tourism Minister Norman Moore today announced that EventsCorp had won the international bid to stage the 2003 UCI BMX World Championships in Perth.
The championships will be held in the Burswood Dome in July 2003.
Mr Moore said Perth faced fierce competition from Melbourne to win the Australian rights to bid for the World Championships and had beaten Holland in the international bid.
The announcement was made yesterday at the 2000 UCI BMX World Championships in Cordoba, Argentina.
The three-day world championship event is expected to attract 1200 overseas and Australian riders, and about 1300 visitors. The event is expected to inject more than $2 million into the Western Australian economy.
BMX Australia and BMX WA will organise the event, which will incorporate 'The Week of Wheels' BMX Festival, set to open a week before the championship.
The one-day BMX World Cup will also be staged in Perth in the week leading up to the Championships.
The Championships will also include a King of Dirt competition, with competitors demonstrating spectacular aerial acrobatics, a street parade through Perth involving both local BMX riders and international competitors, and various training and development seminars.
The Minister said EventsCorp has had discussions with representatives from two international television distributors who had already expressed strong interest in being involved in the event.
"Millions of viewers in Asia, Europe and the United States will not only get to see the BMX action, but will also be exposed to images of Western Australian tourism icons that will be transmitted during television coverage of the event," he said.
Former world champion track cyclist Darryn Hill, and World Cycling Championship Silver Medallist and dual World Cup winner Graham Sharman, are Ambassadors for the event and played a significant role in the bid presentation. Junior Ambassador Mathew Tongue represented the current breed of young BMX riders. All are proud West Australians.
BMX Australia president Graham Arnold said EventsCorp's preparation for the bid and its professionalism was a great help in securing the event.
"I have not come across an agency more dedicated to winning an event of this scale than EventsCorp," he said.
"The professional nature of the team and their knowledge of world-class events certainly helped to win the bid for Perth in 2003."
BMX WA hosted the 1999 National BMX Championships at the State Equestrian Centre at Brigadoon.
It was the first time a National Championship had been held indoors and was considered by many to be the best National Championships ever held.
It provided the perfect opportunity for Perth to show how well it could host a big BMX event.
Media contacts:
Hartley Joynt, Minister's office, 9321 1444 or
Janine Carter, EventsCorp, 9270 3311.