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Rim Nakamura is on his way to unlocking his true BMX freestyle potential
Young Japanese rider, Rim Nakamura, is on a clear path to join the ranks of the world's best competition BMX freestylers.
01
The snapshot:
June 9, 2017. The event programme for Tokyo is approved, with BMX Freestyle Park given the green light for both men and women. Young Japanese rider Rim Nakamura's eyes light up, as he now has the perfect reason to double down on his journey to the top of the BMX freestyle world, with his one-minute take on performing thrilling tricks using ramps, walls, rails and curbs.
02
The bike-obsessed household:
When your father owns a BMX shop and you're named after a bike part, the chances are that you will start pedalling hard from an early age, and Nakamura was no exception. He practised after school for a few hours until dark in his father's custom-built bike park in Kyoto and was taking part in competitions in a full-face helmet before he was even five.
Thankfully, he's never lost sight of the fun element, as he rocketed up the worldwide standings by watching videos of his contemporaries trying out cool, new tricks. Nakamura first came to the attention of the BMX scene outside Japan as a 13-year-old. His riding clips at that age were getting shared and going viral.
Nakamura has his own Park facility called WingPark in Kyoto
© Naoki Gaman/Red Bull Content Pool
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03
The jumps:
There are loads of different elements to a sport like BMX Freestyle Park, with the Kyoto native's biggest strength lying in the height that he manages to generate. When you can launch into a smooth jump four metres high, your ability to impress the judges goes through the roof.
It also helps when you have a slick 360 Triple Barspin and 360 Downside Tailwhip in your back pocket, while rivals look on with jaws dropped from the sidelines.
04
The riding edits:
Contests get the competitive juices flowing, but when it comes to getting really creative in terms of tricks and pushing boundaries riding clips are the vehicle for BMX athletes to truly show their talents. Nakamura built his early reputation on riding clips and since becoming a pro has been involved in releasing career defining riding edits with his sponsors.
When he was 16 he put out his first professionally made video release, Rim Nakamura: Commute to class. In the clip, Nakamura pulls out all the stops and tricks on a clip themed on him trying to get to college on time to attend lectures. He was, after all, still of the age of learning, whether books or bike at that time. In 2022, he put out an edit that saw him perform tricks at an abandoned village at a Wild-West theme park in Nikko, Japan. Nakamura and his riding has also featured in a music video for Japanese rap artist Anarchy.
12 min
BMX paradise at an abandoned village in Japan
BMX rider Rim Nakarama shows off his out-of-competition tricks at an abandoned village in Nikko, Japan.
05
The titles:
The build-up to the Olympics in 2020 could not have gone any better for Nakamura. His second place in qualifying at 2019's Simple Session saw the BMX elite sit up in their saddles and take notice. When he bagged second at X Games Minneapolis 2019, BMX fans couldn't ignore him any further, as he became the youngest medallist in the history of his discipline.
Later in the year, in the UCI BMX Freestyle Park event in Chengdu, China, Nakamura made history as the first Japanese male to win a UCI World Cup event. That win would help him capture the 2019 UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup overall title.
Fast-forward to his 18th birthday at the 2020 Simple Session and Nakamura produced a winning run that managed to edge out Australian Brandon Loupos, with Boyd Hilder of Australia in third.
3 min
Rim Nakamura's winning BMX Park run and interview
Watch Rim Nakamura's first-place run as the Japanese rider tears it up at the 20th edition of Simple Session.
06
The Tokyo experience:
The Olympics were pushed back a year to 2021. A broken heel towards the end of 2020 set him back a little in terms of his preparation, but Nakamura was able to compete in Tokyo, where the 19-year-old finished fifth out of the nine finalists. While disappointed not to medal, Nakamura was able to showcase his talents to a wider audience in Japan and increase BMX freestyle's profile further in his home country.
07
The world champion:
Nakamura's upward progression continued in 2022 as he became the UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Champion. At the Urban Cycling World Championships in Abu Dhabi in November, Nakamura scored 93.80 points to finish ahead of of American Justin Dowell and third-placed Anthony Jeanjean of France. In doing so he secured valuable points for Paris in 2024. As world champion, Nakamura would also be able to wear the famous rainbow striped jersey of a world champion in any competition he competed in for the next year.
Nakamura defended that world championship crown at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, in August, finishing just outside the medals with a fourth place. At the UCI World Cup events in 2023, Nakamura has recorded a second, a sixth and a 13th place. That second place came at the most recent World Cup event in Brussels. He's currently the third ranked BMX Park rider in the world on the UCI rankings.
