The goal is gold for U.S. BMX star

American cycling star Donny Robinson has heard it for years.

It seems like such simple physics. At 5-foot-5, isn't he too short to be an elite BMX racer? Doesn't his 150-pound body simply lack the strength and power to compete against men several inches taller, 50 or 60 pounds heavier and who have far more muscle packed onto their frames?

Somehow, the answer is no.

"People have no clue what can be accomplished," Robinson said, "when you want something bad enough."

So next August in Beijing, Robinson wants to stand tall — atop the medal podium with Olympic gold around his neck.

The 24-year-old rider from Napa, Calif., is one of the best BMX racers in the world and part of a powerful American team that plans to dominate when the niche sport hits the Olympic stage for the first time this summer. The U.S. squad is ranked No. 1 by the International Cycling Union, and the diminutive Robinson is a big reason why.

He's currently No. 2 in the worldwide BMX rankings — only behind fellow American Mike Day — and won a test event at the newly built Beijing Olympic track a few months back, giving him plenty of confidence heading into the biggest year of his career.

If he gets one of USA Cycling's Olympic spots, he'll be a gold medal favorite.

"When I first got to that track in Beijing, the place was completely empty and my jaw was hanging for a good half an hour," Robinson said. "It really hit me that this is the place. This is the place where all my dreams can come true."

One of his dreams already is: BMX is going mainstream.

He was 6 when he started racing, and even into his late teens, the Olympics wasn't something BMX racers like Robinson thought about. Their sport — pedaling single-gear bikes on 350-meter dirt tracks with steep start ramps, challenging jumps and banked curves — was thought by many to be a long shot for the Olympic program.

But in 2003, the IOC noticed of BMX's surging popularity, particularly among young athletes, and added it to the Beijing lineup.

Right then and there, Robinson's priorities immediately changed.

He abandoned the cliche, one-race-at-a-time approach that worked for years. From now until August, it's all about the Olympics.