Exclusive: Britain’s Kieran Reilly on ‘insane’ triple flair and hopes of Olympic BMX freestyle gold

Kieran Reilly had been talked about as a rising star of BMX freestyle – but becoming the first to land the so-called ‘triple flair’ in 2022 was the first big step towards what he hopes will make him an Olympic gold medallist.

With 100 days to go until the start of Paris 2024, the 22-year-old from Gateshead is putting in his final preparations ahead of the Games, having won gold at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow last year.

The triple flair features three backflips and until two years ago, no-one had ever completed it on a wooden ramp. Trying to become the first to do that took a mental toll on Reilly, who had to park the ambition of pulling off the trick for a bit after an unsuccessful first attempt.

“I’m known for is doing big tricks,” Reilly told The Power of the Olympics, which will be broadcast on Eurosport 1 and Discovery+ at 1730 BST tonight (Wednesday, April 17).

“I mentioned it almost as a joke, out of curiosity for people’s response, ‘oh, imagine a triple flair…’ And my team manager straight away was like ‘yes, that is something we can make happen!’

“It was probably the hardest mental battle I’ve ever had in my entire life. I thought I knew what it was to be scared of a trick until I did this.

“It literally felt like there was a brick wall in front of me at the top of the drop-in ramp and getting past that took a lot every single attempt. On the last day, I didn’t get it done. I actually didn’t even attempt it one time just because the mental block, the fatigue and all these crashes had just taken such a toll.”

Reilly left the triple flair for a bit but half a year later, he returned to have another go.

“In that six months in between, I had definitely trimmed down, I got a lot leaner. I had started going to the gym so I gained some muscle mass. It was all these marginal gains that we’d been hoping for that would make the difference.

“Getting it done… I don’t think I’ve ever had an adrenaline rush even half as close to that. I’ve never cried out in tears since that moment. The amount of relief was insane.”

Reilly will head to Paris looking to maintain Britain’s successful start to Olympic BMX freestyle, which was included for the first time at Tokyo 2020.

, becoming the first woman to land a backflip 360 in competition during the final, while Declan Brooks to bronze in the men’s competition.

“At the next Olympics, if I get a spot for Paris, the pressure is definitely on. The last time we went there we had two GB medals. I want to be an Olympic medallist and back these guys up.”