Xavier Gilbee has won his maiden Australian BMX Freestyle title, while Sarah Nicki has made an emphatic return to competition to claim her third title, after two months off the bike with injury, at RampFest Indoor Skatepark in Melbourne.
Sarah Nicki and Xavier Gilbee in their new national champion jerseys.
Less than five points separated the podium in the elite women's competition, a testament to the calibre of riders.
Despite having two months off the bike due to injury, mainstay of the ARA Australian Cycling Team, Nicki's experience came to the fore.
Up-and-coming women Alirah Norris and Kayla McCormick both laid down the gauntlet raising the bar in their runs forcing the the two-time national champion to pull some new tricks out of her bag.
Maintaining composure under pressure, Nicki opened her second and final run with what was possibly a world-first one-foot X up to cancan backflip, which she said was the first time in competition she had performed the trick.
"So proud, showing all the kids what can happen," Nicki said of her return to competition.
"I can't believe I just did that.
"I've never done a flip one X up the can in comp. I don't know how many people have done it, but I haven't seen many women do a flip one X up the can.
In the elite men's competition, Gilbee pulled out all the stops in his second run to just get the better of former national champion Samual Grace who won his title in 2023 at RampFest.
Gilbee, 19, delivered a smooth, clean run with big back-to-back tricks including a 720-whip, and three triple whips.
"I moved from Victoria up to Queensland when I was 17, that's where the place was to be for it, and that's the sacrifice I made, to move up there and get what I need out of it," Gilbee said.
"It's definitely paid off. It's been sort of a long journey. I've been riding for about six and a half years but I only stepped up to elites in 2024 and for a while there I felt like I was stuck in mud. I went from being good and getting results in Amateurs to being in the big dog league and just being at the bottom of the ladder.
"It's been a long journey to climb up the rank. It's a really rewarding feeling."
Elite men podium
🥇 Xavier Gilbee - 95.33
🥈 Samual Grace - 94
🥉 Andrew Ahumada - 88.33
Elite Women podium
🥇 Sarah Nicki - 93.33
🥈 Alirah Norris - 91.67
🥉 Kayla McCormick - 90
Am Men podium
🥇 Malakai Kopman - 94.67
🥈 Mitchell Brown - 94.33
🥉 Koby Clayton - 92
Am Women podium
🥇 Evie Simpson - 78
🥈 Josephine Armstrong - 61
🥉 Trinity Markwell - 52