BMX bike racing is a type of off-road bike racing. BMX bike races are short races on purpose built off-road single lap racetracks. The track commonly includes a starting gate for as many as 8 racers, a groomed serpentine soil racecourse made up of various jumps, banked and flat corners, and a finish line.

The organisation of BMX racing is facilitated by a number of regional and international sanctioning bodies. These sanctioning bodies provide a set of rules governing the conduct of the races, stipulate age-group and skill level classifications among the many racers, and maintain some sort of points accumulation system over a racing season. The sport is largely participant-driven with the typical racer age of approximately 13 years. Professional ranks can be found for both women and men, where the average age is higher.

A BMX bike is a strong, relatively quick-handling, lightweight deriviative of the standard twenty”-wheel single-speed youngsters bicycle. Variations include larger twenty-four” wheel BMX bikes and infrequent multi-speed bikes.

While BMX racing is an individual sport, racing teams will often be formed from racers in various classifications for camaraderie and often for business exposure of a sponsoring organisation or business. BMX racing rewards strength, quickness, and bike handling skills. Many successful BMX racers have gone on to leverage their skills in other forms of bike and motorcycle competitions, especially track cycling in the more explosive sprint events.

BMX Racing became a medal sport at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and after a successful debut will continue to be a medal sport in London 2012.

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