KEY POINTS:
If Sarah Walker stands on the Olympic podium for the women's BMX medal presentation in Beijing, there will be more than the usual emotion in play.
Walker, along with Marc Willers, will represent New Zealand when BMX makes its Olympic debut next month. She is a genuine gold medal contender, and if she comes through, expect a tear or two from the stands. .
A few months ago, her parents Sue and Graham bought tickets for the two-day BMX competition and other Games events, but now believe they've been ripped off. The tickets are thought to be fake, leaving their wallets potentially $4000 lighter.
Undeterred, they bought some more.
Walker spoke with feeling about what it will mean having them and her boyfriend, Australian Dane Booker, looking on.
"It's just knowing they're there. I know they'll be proud of me no matter what happens.
If things go bad they're going to give me a cuddle, and if I've done well, well they're there."
Ordinarily you'd say the likelihood is _ given her record in the past year, when she has locked herself in among the sport's finest exponents _ that Walker will do extremely well.
But this is a sport where small errors can lead to catastrophe.
Eight riders haring for the first corner, all seeking the best racing line. Not everyone can get it. It requires skill and nerve, a good whiff of boldness and trust in your ability to seize a moment and hang on for about 30 seconds to navigate the 350m course.
Walker, who turns 20 next Thursday, got involved in BMX through her brother Matthew. He received a bike for a present and Walker, then 11, went to watch. She got bored looking on and had a crack.
She dabbled in hockey, multisports and volleyball during her years at Trident High School in Whakatane, but the bug had bitten.
If there is one moment Walker can pinpoint as utterly pivotal in moving her from keen but unsure of her potential to top of the world, it was a weekend in Belgium in April last year.
It was a European leg of the world circuit, all the hot shots were racing _ the women who will be on the startline in Beijing _ plus an unknown teenager from the other side of the globe.
Walker, a former Herald Junior Sports Award winner, made the final and got second. Her self-belief leapt and she raised eyebrows.
"I went over nervous. I didn't know how I was going to go. One lone New Zealander against all these Europeans was a bit daunting.
"But it was kind of an eye-opener to get that far and get in the top three. That was a confidence booster for sure.
"I needed a measure of how things were going, what I needed to work on. Every time I've raced since then it's like another measurement to see how I'm going."
She hasn't looked back. She won the 24-inch Cruiser class world title in Victoria, Canada, last August, and in finishing second in the Olympic 20-inch class the following day was the world No 1 ranked rider, which she still holds going to Beijing.
Walker grins at the sheer notion of making a living out of riding a bike. "I'll find myself in Switzerland or Denmark and I'll think, `I'm riding my bike all over the world and I'm 19'.
"It's taken me further than I ever thought it would. Going to the Olympics? It's like a dream. It's still unreal, but it's pretty cool."
But her former third-form teacher won't be surprised _ Walker tells a story of the teacher setting an assignment on goal seeking.
"This was before BMX was an Olympic sport (it was confirmed in 2003) but one of my goals was to go to the Olympics."
Walker doesn't actually remember the moment, but her parents recently met the teacher, Andrea Barlien, who is now working in China. She recalled the incident with relish.
If Walker finishes on the podium it will be a tale which will live on through the re-telling.
When Walker's coach, Grant White, walked out last year to coach her chief rival, Britain's Shanaze Reade, it took a while to deal with it.
But the spinoff has been positive.
She has specialist gym and track coaches, and Canadian Ken Cools, who is overseeing Walker and Willers' Games preparations, has taken Walker from "having one of the worst gates [starts] in the world to one of the best. That's the most important part of the race. Having the worst start isn't going to win me any medal".
Walker talks with a quiet confidence and determination about her chances. She believes that, providing the racing is devoid of unexpected hiccups and goes according to plan, four riders will be battling for the three medals: French pair Anne-Caroline Chausson and Laetitia Le Courguille (ranked No 2 and 3 behind Walker), Reade (No 6) and herself.
"But, being BMX, all of us could fall off and someone who shouldn't win gold could."
And that's the frustration and the fascination of the sport wrapped up in one sentence.
By contrast, Walker believes most of the men's field of 32 will be a chance.
Walker has played the Olympic women's final "a million times" in her mind, but won't go overboard in analysing how the race might unfold.
For starters, she's got to qualify for the final. One tumble and the dream will crash with her.
"All I think about is what to do from the gate, to the first or second jump. There's an infinity of situations I could be in. I could plan a whole race but be in a different situation on the track to what I'd planned, so it's kind of pointless visualising."
And she doesn't think about being among the favourites.
"On the day, thinking about that is not going to help me whatsoever. I'd like to get in the top three, but in BMX so many things can happen in a race.
"It's so unpredictable. It's not like having to reach a distance, run a certain time or jump a certain height.
"It's just a race with seven other people who want the same line as you do. It's all over in 30 to 40 seconds. There's not much room for error."
She is spending time at the United States BMX training facility south of San Diego, where about US$500,000 has been spent creating an exact replica of the Beijing course.
Nothing is being left to chance.
....
35 DAYS TO GO
BMX
FIRST TIMER
BMX is on the Olympic Games programme for the first time. The men's field for the event at the Laoshan course in west Beijing is 32 riders, including New Zealand's Marc Willers (below), while there will be 16 women competing, with world No 1-ranked Sarah Walker among the favourites.
WHAT HAPPENS?
The two circuits for the men's and women's races in Beijing are different, but overlap in parts. The track is 10m wide at the start gate, but closes to about 5m at some points. The men's race is about 370m, the women's around 350m and each race takes a little over 30 seconds. The circuits include jumps and angled corners with plenty of opportunity for `air time'.
WHEEL POWER
The Olympic bikes are robust, having to withstand rough treatment in the bumps and humps of the course. They use 20 inch wheels, have front and rear brakes and a single gear. There is another class, Cruiser, which uses 24 inch wheels.
GANG OF FOUR
BMX lifts the number of cycling events at the Olympics to four _ joining the long-established road and track riding, and mountainbiking. BMX originated in California in the early 1970s. The international federation was founded in April 1981 and has been integrated into the International Cycling Union since January 1993. FANCY A MEDAL?New Zealand will be represented in all disciplines in Beijing. Walker is the most favoured to win a medal across the four.
