Australian BMX Hall of Fame celebrates 2023 inductees and award winners

The Bee NRG Australian BMX Hall of Fame has grown again, with six inductees afforded the honour of being named an Australian BMX Hall of Fame inductee.

Melissa Mankowski, Clint Millar, Mick Wiltshire, Scott Edington, Patrick Dillon and Trevor King join the Hall of Fame as 2023 inductees, with the six recognised in front of more than 200 peers at a gala function at Mercure Resort on the Gold Coast last weekend.

The evening also saw the awarding of the Cassap Australian Freestyle Scholarship to Koby Carroll and Charli Guy, who will receive financial assistance to further their training over the next 12 months.

11-year-old Jayden Bradbrook was also announced as the 2023 Sam Willoughby Medallist, and follows his W1 plate win in the Boys 11 BMX Challenge at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow recently.

Jayden Bradbrook. Photo: Australian BMX Hall of Fame

Co-founder of the Australian BMX Hall Of Fame Cam Mitchell said the evening is an opportunity to celebrate the people behind the sport.

“With a sold-out crowd of 230 people across both race and freestyle disciplines it was great to see Australian BMX come together to celebrate this year’s inductees. It was a who’s who of BMX royalty with people travelling from all over the country and we had people from as far as New Zealand in attendance,” Mitchell said.

“It’s a great vibe – a reunion on a big scale, and it’s a black-tie type event – so everyone gets dressed up. The night brings everyone together and including current day racers, the Australian Freestyle team was there, as well as legends that were involved in the sport right back to 1977.

Mitchell also outlined how the Hall of Fame inductees have left an indelible legacy on the sport, while the award winners represent the future of BMX in Australia.

“The class of 2023 includes champion racers and freestylers who excelled at the highest international level. We also had pioneers who literally developed the sport of BMX here in Australia. These pioneers developed tracks, tricks, ran teams and held competitions. Without these people the sport of BMX would not be where it is today.

“I am super excited for Jayden, and Kobi and Charli. Not only are they super talented, they are just great kids. So humble and appreciative of the support and recognition. It’s important that we support the next generation, not only to keep them in the sport, but to assist in their development and create opportunities.

“The future is looking good and we are thrilled to be behind this along with our valuable sponsors and supporters.”

Charli Guy and Koby Carroll. Photo: Australian BMX Hall of Fame

More info on the 2023 Australian BMX Hall of Fame inductees:

Trevor King

After switching from BMX Racing in 1985, Trevor King went on to become an icon of the early BMX Freestyle scene in Australia. His competitive career began in 1987, with second place in the ramp category at the Ikea Carpark Competition in Melbourne, a result he bettered the following year, taking out the Pro Ramp competition and overall Pro winner at the Victorian Freestyle Championships in Thomastown. King was awarded Rider of the Year at the Flatamp Nunawading Weekend Nationals in 1990 after placing first in Pro Flatland and second in Pro Ramp at both the Brisbane and Melbourne rounds of the Flatamp series, and was then awarded Freestyler of the Year in 1992 under the Ramp category at the 2Hip Nationals. At a time when other riders began to focus on a specific discipline, King continued to excel across multiple disciplines, competing at the Sony PlayStation X Games in three out of the four disciplines, placing third in Vert, sixth in Street, and fourth in Flatland.

Melissa Mankowski

There has never been a more successful female Australian BMX racer in winning National and World #1 plates than Melissa Mankowski. Between 1997 and 2004, Mankowski won eight consecutive Australian Championship titles and added six UCI World Titles during the same period. After not competing at the 2000 World Titles, Mankowski returned to win the 2001 crown against the best in the world, with Mankowski rating the victory as the finest in her career. Hailing from the small coal mining town of Middlemount in Central Queensland, Mankowski won an unprecedented 18 national or World #1 plates over a 17 year career, and is remembered as the most dominant rider of her generation.

Mick Wiltshire

Mick Wiltshire is Australia’s first ever Open Men’s Australian BMX Champion; an honour he shares from 1980 with fellow Sydneysider, Wayne MacIntosh. Wiltshire claimed another Australian Title in 1982 in the Open Cruiser class, and from 1977 until his retirement in 1983, Mick won countless National Pro, Open, and Cruiser Class races across Australia. Prior to sharing the 1980 Open Men’s title, he won Australia’s first major Pro Final by taking out the 1980 Quicksilver Grand Nationals at the Ryde Eastwood Track. In addition to Mick’s success on the track, Wiltshire travelled the country in the earliest days of the sport, promoting BMX by setting lap records and winning jump competitions to leave a lasting impression on the sport.

Clint Millar

Clint Millar is a pioneer of BMX Flatland in Australia. After winning both his age and Master classes at the Flatland Masters in Victoria in 1991, Millar made his debut as an Australian Pro rider in September 1992, competing at Brisbane’s 2Hip Nationals where he won the Pro Flatland crown. Millar travelled the United States for the first time to ride and compete in 1995, and by 1998, he had become Australia's first international professional freestyle rider. His reputation as a technical mini-ramp rider continued to rise in the new millennium, winning best trick for his ‘Downside Whip’ at the 2005 Worlds in Germany. In 2006, Millar was the first Australian freestyle rider with an international signature frame – the Wethepeople ‘Millar Lite’. A prolific promoter of the sport, he is the founder of Colony BMX, launched Academy BMX and Division Brand in 2012, and his importer and wholesale business, Family Distribution in 2018.

Scott's Edington

Scott's Edington’s remarkable BMX career started in 1978 as a young and aggressive national plate holder with a flair for jumping during the early years of BMX racing in Queensland. Edington racked up over 40 trophies before he turned 13, but shifted to BMX freestyle by the mid 1980. In 1987, he entered his first freestyle competition at the Toombul Roller Bowl in Brisbane, where he placed third in Flatland and won both Ramp and Highest Air categories. This began a streak of over 10 consecutive undefeated Masters and Pro ramp wins on a State and National level. Edington travelled to Canberra twice in 1988, winning Ramp for both the Canberra Winter Nationals and ACT Open Freestyle Championships, and in 1989 he was considered the "only Australian pro capable of competing with American ramp standards” by US publication Freestylin’ Magazine.

Patrick Dillon

Aside from being a top competitive rider, Pat Dillon has built a reputation as one of the earliest promoters of BMX in Australia. At the age of 15, he staged Victoria’s first ever BMX race meetings across Melbourne, drawing the likes of Steve Cassap, Dave Cooper, and Jamie Hales. He then turned his attention to importing BMX products, which were difficult to find in Melbourne at the time, creating one of Australia’s premier BMX retail outlets, PRM Cycles. Dillon secured land from the local council to establish the South Eastern BMX Track in Melbourne and stage the PRM Cash Dash, one of Australia’s most iconic Pro-Am events on the race calendar. On the bike, Dillon amassed State, National and World rankings in both the 20” and cruiser categories, with second place at the IBMXF World Titles in Brisbane a highlight.

Photos: Australian BMX Hall of Fame