Liam Peter Phillips (born 11 March 1989) is a

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

representing

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. In 2013 he won the UCI BMX World Championships, his first. Having been cycling from the age of 5, he took up competitive BMX whilst a junior and won ten consecutive British titles. He won his first European title in 1999, and represented Great Britain at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

(despite having broken his collarbone shortly before) and at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Early life

Born at

Musgrove Park Hospital Musgrove Park Hospital is a large NHS hospital located in Taunton, Somerset, England, run by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Originally a US Army General Hospital during the Second World War, it became an NHS hospital in 1951. History The 67th ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

, he was raised in

Burnham-on-Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...

and attended The King Alfred School. He began cycling at the age of five years, and often raced his sister. Both of his parents were involved in BMX with his father being a former national coach, and helped to found the local BMX club in Burnham.

Cycling career

Between the ages of five and fourteen, he was the winner of ten consecutive British BMX titles. In 1999 he won the European BMX Championship for the first time, and joined the Olympic Academy Programme in 2005. In 2008 he was selected for the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

team at the

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China as a competitor in the men's BMX. It was the first time the sport had been featured in an Olympic Games as an official sport; Phillips placed seventh in the second heat and was eliminated from the competition. He was injured at the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships in South Africa, damaging his shoulder during the second moto. In early 2011 he began training with the British track cycling team, eventually being considered as one of the members of the squad's men's sprint team. He decided to make the switch from BMX due to the reduced chance of injury in track racing. During this period he was a member of the sprint team that placed third at the British National Team Sprint Championships in September 2011. However, it was announced in October 2011 that he had decided to return to BMX, which resulted in the media considering him to be one of the best prospects to represent Great Britain in the men's BMX at the

in London. Having taken the silver medal in the time trial at the 2012 UCI BMX World Championships held at the

National Indoor Arena Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, the following day Philips broke his

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

during the morning's Moto 1 race. This resulted in him requiring surgery to insert a metal plate, and put his selection for the 2012 Games in doubt. However, he was chosen for the British team despite the injury and was still aiming for a win at the Olympics, saying "The goal is gold, without a doubt. I'm training not to be a medal winner but to be Olympic champion." In 2014 Phillips became the first British male rider to win the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, becoming the first rider to win two back-to-back BMX World Cup titles when he took a second series win in 2015.

Personal life

He lives in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, close to the

National Indoor BMX Arena The National Indoor BMX Arena is an indoor BMX racing facility, located in Sportcity, Manchester, United Kingdom. The arena was designed by Ellis Williams Architects and built by contractors Sir Robert McAlpine. It is situated next to the Manches ...

. He likes to play golf in his spare time.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Liam 1989 births Living people British BMX riders English male cyclists British male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics UCI BMX World Champions (elite men) People from Burnham-on-Sea 21st-century English sportsmen