Mike Day had plenty of support
BMX OLYMPIC TRIALS NOTES
Santa Clarita rider's efforts to rally his fans pay off.
CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Mike Day acknowledged he spent much of the last week calling friends and family members, asking them to come out and support him at Saturday's Olympic BMX trials. And more than 100 of them did, and many of them pulled on bright yellow Mike Day Fan Club T-shirts designed by fellow BMX rider Jill Kintner, the only U.S. female rider who will compete in Beijing.
And that support was rewarded with a dominating victory.
"We are so excited and so proud of him," said Day's aunt, Andrea Mathews, who drove down from Solvang, Calif. "I knew Mike would win it. He just rode like the wind today. He's an awesome rider."
Day also drew fans from among the resident athletes at the Olympic Training Center. One of them was Trevell Quinley, a hopeful for the U.S. long jump team who convinced his fellow jumpers to move Saturday afternoon's scheduled competition to Friday night so they could come cheer Day in his trials.
"We're good friends and we decided to come out and support him," said Quinley, who won Friday's event with a jump of 26 feet 9 inches -- with some help from Day and one of his corporate sponsors.
"Mikey gave me a Red Bull yesterday before my competition and that helped me," he said of the energy drink.
Quinley was among a dozen Olympic hopefuls who lined the track near the starting gate, each wearing a yellow Day T-shirt.
"We both have the same goal," he said. "That's the cool thing about the Olympic Training Center. You get to know people that are in other sports. A lot of the BMX riders came out and supported us last night. That was nice. So this is like tit for tat."
Call me in the morning
Day, who cut his BMX teeth riding the tracks of Santa Clarita with his two brothers, turned pro six years ago while still enrolled at Valencia High. But he said his fellow students confused BMX racing with the freestyle events made popular during the X Games.
"I would say 'No, I race. I try to go fast and go around the track,' " Day said.
Which is exactly what he did Saturday.
But even after clinching an automatic berth on the Olympic team, the accomplishment still hadn't set in.
Asked how he felt about the honor, Day smiled and shook his head.
"Call me tomorrow morning and I'll give you an answer," he said.
Two hours later Day ate a late lunch with friends in the athletes' cafeteria at the Training Center, his Olympic jersey still tied around his neck.
