Published: August 8, 2012
Burnham-On-Sea BMX rider makes solid start at London Olympics

Burnham-On-Sea BMX rider Liam Phillips got off to a great start in his bid for a medal at the London Olympics on Wednesday (August 8th).

Liam, 23, finished in 12th position in the men's BMX seeding run for the knock-out phase of the competition, with fellow British rider Shanaze Reade also qualifying in fifth spot.

Defending Olympic champion Maris Strombergs finished in 11th place, just one place better than Liam.

Cheering on Liam at the event were his family, friends and supporters, who will now be eagerly watching his progress in the next round at 3pm on Thursday, hoping he will progress to the semi-finals and final on Friday.

Liam - who is the world No. 50 - achieved the fastest qualifying time of 38.719 seconds after coming out seventh, but he quickly tumbled down the standings ahead of the quarter final.

He eventually finished 12th, with Dutchman Raymon van der Biezen qualifying as No.1 nearly half a second ahead of Joris Daudet. The seedings dictate the gate places for each of the knock-out rounds.

Liam and the other riders will now go into a five-round quarter final, with the best two riders from the first three races going through to the semi-final, and the best two riders from the remaining races joining them.

Liam, 23, was raised in Burnham-On-Sea and went to Highbridge's King Alfred School. Both of his parents were involved in BMX and Liam's father is a former national coach who helped to set up the Burnham BMX Club.

Liam won his first European title in 1999, and represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics when he reached the BMX quarter finals in Beijing.

Liam suffered a fractured collarbone in a fall at the 2012 BMX World Championships in Birmingham earlier this year, but had surgery and says he is now back to full fitness and ready for action. He was selected for Team GB in June, as Burnham-On-Sea.com reported here.