Parents ‘proud’ of 13-year-old BMX racer son who is soon to travel to America for the World Championships

The parents of a 13-year-old BMX racer from Northampton have expressed their pride as he prepares to travel to America to compete in the World Championships.

The last time the Chronicle & Echo ran a story on Lucas Osborne, he was just 11 years old, ranked sixth in Britain and was soon to travel to France to take part in his first World Championships.

Now, he is 13 years old and will travel to South Carolina this month to represent our country on the world stage for the third consecutive year.

Lucas finished in around 40th place at his first World Championships and improved on his rank last year at the same competition in Glasgow.

The 13-year-old recently finished eighth in the national standings, out of 66, which enabled him to qualify for the upcoming World Championships in the States.

To get to this point, Lucas competed in 10 rounds dotted around the country and he needed to place in the top 14.

His father Daniel Osborne said: “He is very excited to travel to America. One of his dreams was to race properly outside of the UK and to go long distance. We’re really proud of him and he has lots of people supporting him.”

Daniel praised the support of Lucas’ school, The Duston School, and his national team at the Birmingham BMX Club.

As Lucas gets older, the competition gets tougher and Daniel explained that his son comes up against older and larger competitors – which he takes in his stride.

Having placed in the 30s and 40s at the World Championships in previous years, the 13-year-old aspires to reach the top 20 and beat his previous standings this month.

Lucas still takes part in regular coaching alongside his schoolwork, and he is part of the Trilogy local athletes support network. He has begun strength training and has shown his “full commitment” to bettering himself.

When asked how proud he and Lucas’ mother Helen are, Daniel said: “He’s been doing it since 2017 and he started when he was six years old.

“It’s high risk and there’s a lot of emotions they have to deal with in a 30, 40-second race. There are a lot of split decisions and he does it really well.

“Lucas has matured and grown on and off the track. He is turning into a young man.”

Looking to the future, Lucas hopes to push into the top five in the country and continue progressing to see how far BMX racing can take him.

As he is currently part of the Regional School of Racing, the National School is the next step. The better Lucas becomes, the more recognition and support he will receive.