THERE are two worlds in BMX: the competitive sport, and the artform.

This summer, those two worlds collided at the Olympic games, and pro-BMX rider Liam Eltham, from Iffley, was at the centre.

Mr Eltham, 25, was part of a team that entertained the BMX crowd – including Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron and David Beckham – in a spectacular display between the heats and semi-final of the BMX racing.

BMX was originally supposed to be motocross for bikes – hence the name.

The Olympic sport is purely racing, with no artistic flair required, but Mr Eltham is sponsored by various companies exactly because of his artistic skills on a bike. He said there was no set way to do BMX stunts, such as a 360-degree turn in the air, or combined manoevres.

He said: “I usually have a set idea in my head of how it will start and end, and the rest is largely improvised.

“You are always looking at the world as a giant skate park – a big grass bank is like a half pipe.”

He and a group of fellow BMXers used to have a patch of woodland at Cothill, near Abingdon where they excavated increasingly precipitous jumps, until the land owner got nervous about his insurance.

Despite the landowner’s fears, it is not as dangerous as it might look.

Mr Eltham broke his first bone – his wrist – earlier this year.

He is also a member of the Oxford Wheels project which is currently rebuilding Meadow Lane skate park in East Oxford.

The charity received a £50,000 grant from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities fund, for transforming non-sporting venues into “modern grassroots sport facilities”.

Oxford Wheels’ chairman Jack Richens, 33, said: “The legacy of the Olympics is very active in Oxfordshire.

“BMXers think completely differently about the world in front of them, and the things these people can do are just incredible.

“Flatland BMX is more like watching ballet.”

Team GB did not win any BMXing medals at this year’s Olympics, but Mr Richens said: “We can change that.”

  • To start BMXing, get down to your local skate park or visit the Oxford Wheels Project (OWP) website at owp.org.uk. The Meadow Lane skate park will be officially opening on February 9, and OWP will be running BMX training courses there from Easter. To see some BMX action, visit mpora.com/bmx/videos