Six-year-old Rory Meek was the only rider from an Otago club to win a medal at the world BMX championships in Auckland last week.
Rory (6) had a bad start and was second last coming out of the blocks but he has a lot of acceleration and powered his way through the field to reach the medal group around the last corner.
The ride impressed his brother and fellow rider Toby (8).
''Rory got a bad start and I didn't think he would come back,'' Toby said.
''I was impressed by the way he came through the field.''
It was not an easy feat for any rider to reach the final because they were restricted to limited training time at the indoor track inside the Vector Arena.
They also had to ride seven races to make the final. Each rider had three qualifying races and needed to finish in the top four in their group to reach the last 16.
It then came down to one race to make the top four in their one-off heat to progress through the quarterfinals and semifinals to make the final. It all had to be done in one day.
''BMX racers need to be fit, strong and able to make a quick decision in a very short space of time as they race,'' Dunedin BMX Club president Jason Wadsworth said.
''A little lack of fear helps as well.''
There were nine riders from the Dunedin club and five from Alexandra competing at the world championships.
''Our club was very pleased having riders perform on the world stage,'' Wadsworth said.
''It was good to have the event staged in New Zealand.''
Two other Otago riders progressed past the preliminary rounds.
Rory's elder brother, Toby, reached the last 16 in the boys aged 9 grade. He missed out by just one place to go through to the quarterfinals.
In the boys aged 15 grade, Hamish Borrows was fourth in his three qualifying races and fourth in the last 16 races. He finished fifth in his quarterfinal and missed the semifinals by just one place.
Other competitors from Dunedin to attend were Logan Keach, Grace Finnerty, Kyle Rutherford, Avon Peel, Terry Finnerty and George Hatzis. Competitors from Alexandra were Ben James, Lachie James, Duncan Sutherland, Josh Smith and Daniel McElhinney.
