Fearless Madill - the ultimate BMX bandit

There’s two things that should tell you what kind of an amazing competitor Australia BMX champion Luke Madill really is. One, he rode in his first Australian Championship competition at the ripe old age of five. Second, two short years later, he took out his first Aussie Championship.

What is it that sets Australian BMX star, Luke Madill, apart from the competition? His resilience plays a huge role. In May 2006, while training in Adelaide, Madill broke his back in three places, and his neck in one place, he also suffered a life-threatening blood clot in his neck and broke his hand and nose. He’d come up short on a big set of double jumps and rammed his head into the ground, knocking himself unconscious. “He was bleeding from the eyes and nose,” his father, Roger, said. “The first specialist he saw said he’d never ride again. I knew he’d be back as soon as he can.” He was right. Within two months he was back on his bike. Then, just six months later, he was back on the podium, winning a round of the national series in Western Australia and a Pro Final in Queensland.

Destiny's child

It’s fair to say Madill breaks his back, busts his neck and snaps his nose because he loves it. In fact, he never really had a choice. His older brothers were keen BMX riders and Luke Madill was presented with a brand spanking new 12 inch Mongoose BMX on his third birthday. His course was set. After his victory at the Australian Championships in 1988 at Alice Springs, Madill went on to win 11 more and added a further 15 State Championships. “When I was competing at age five, it just felt like another lap,” he said. “It wasn’t till I was about 14 that I realised I wasn’t too far behind the pro guys at practice so I knew I could give it a crack.” ‘Give it a crack’, he did, becoming the youngest Australian pro champion in the history of the sport, at the 1999 Australian Championships.

Gold in his sights