Cycling: How a BMX boy was fast-tracked to a new world

Manchester 2002: A frighteningly quick natural talent is taking a detour in his career, and gold is the destination

Visitors to the Berlin velodrome these past few days might have been a little perplexed by the sight of the English cycling team in preparation for the Commonwealth Games. Some sleek track machines, for sure, and all the trimmings of a seriously professional outfit. And one BMX bike.

Jamie Staff has not officially challenged the rest of the team to a showdown. He reckons that over half a lap, with the easier gears and the smaller wheels, his BMX would have a chance. But no further. The top speed on a BMX is about 35mph; on a track bike it is about 45mph, but neither the speed differential nor his limited knowledge of the tactics and techniques of the track have stopped the former world and European BMX champion from taking an interesting detour in his career.

In Manchester later this month, Staff will don his England Lycra and race the Team Sprint, a three-man three-lap blow-out, ride the kilo as number two to the Olympic champion, Jason Queally, and contest the match sprint, quite a hefty introduction to a new discipline.

The switch has already prompted some moments of outright hilarity. At Herne Hill in south-east London recently, Staff made a break for home after one lap, gallantly held off the opposition all the way round the next lap to record a memorable victory, only to find that the race was over three laps.

"I'd never been to a track meeting before. So, on the start line, my coach was holding me up and I was saying to him, 'What do I do?' He says, 'Just go'. When I jumped and found it was a lap too early, I was just laughing to myself. It's a great new experience for me and I'm very excited about it. I'm like a new young guy on the team and I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself." But, in Moscow, in only his second serious attempt at the 1km, the laughter turned to incredulity as Staff recorded a time which would have won Olympic bronze in Sydney.

"His speed is staggering," says Peter Keen, head of the UK's cycling world-class performance programme. "He's still learning his craft, but he frightens people with his pure, natural power. I doubt if there has been a more rapid rise up the rankings and we're very excited about it because he could turn our silver medal in the team sprint to gold at the next Olympics."

Staff's livelihood is earned riding for the Haro Bicycles BMX team based in San Diego. He races most weekends from January to November all over the States, with heats and finals, perhaps as many as 15 races in two days. Races are tests of explosive speed, lasting for less than a minute, and therefore in terms of training not dissimilar to the sprinting events on the track. The difference comes in the jumps on the BMX course and the control needed to ride the track.

"The scary bit is learning to ride on a 45 degree banked track with steep turns," says Staff. "It's also way faster and you don't have any padding. In BMX, you don't work to time either. You're racing against other guys. Here they keep telling me 'ride to this time' and I'm not sure what they're on about. I know on or off, that's it."

Staff did not plan a career riding what many still consider a kid's bike. His upbringing in Ashford, Kent, was conventional enough. His father was a builder, his mother worked in the local hospital and, having gained a diploma in building studies, Jamie was expected to join the family business. But his friends had BMX bikes and one Christmas Jamie was given one as well. He took up racing at the nearby tracks, coming second in his first junior race, then progressing steadily through club to national and international level without ever really considering his sport could be a profession until he crossed the Atlantic six years ago to seek out the true professional competition. Within a month, he was employed by a pro team and earning a decent wage. In 1996, he became world champion.

An early experience on the track was not exactly auspicious. "I went down to the track in San Diego and was trying to do a flying 200m when my foot came out and I crashed," Staff recalls. "I broke my collarbone and I thought as I was lying there, 'This is it, this is way too painful for me'. It's taken me five years or so to come back again."

From initial oxygen and power tests carried out on all international cyclists at the start of the WCPP, Keen had already logged Staff's potential. So when the call came through last year, Keen was ready at the door. "That's all you can do, just open the door," says Keen. "They've got to walk through it, but I think it's a testimony to the success of British cycling that people are starting to take notice and that we are able to fast-track someone like Jamie, who is already a mature and intelligent athlete, through the system. Within three months, he was competing effectively on the world stage."

With a host of young kids clipping his heels in BMX, Staff is clearly relishing a different challenge. The new kid on the block, at the age of 29. "I've been at the top of the world in BMX, so I know what pressure is," he says of competing in the Commonwealth Games. "I have no expectations. I might win or I might finish 10th, but it's a great experience and I want to enjoy it. My dream is to get to the Olympics in Athens. That's why I'm doing this and I'm pretty determined. I generally manage to achieve what I set out to do."

His one concern is not these Games, it is the X Games which come on the weekend after his return to the United States in August. A downhill course, 45- feet jumps and a bike as twitchy as a Formula One car. "That's why I brought my BMX out to Germany," he laughs. "I've just got to keep riding it or else I'll die when I get back."