KIERAN REILLY readily admits it was never really his plan to be an Olympian. The 22-year-old was always obsessed by riding bikes, regularly heading to his local skatepark in the Leam Lane area of Gateshead, where he was brought up, but it was stunts and tricks that interested him rather than Olympic-style competition.

The Geordie made history when he became the first rider to successfully perform the triple-flair trick – three backflips with a 180 degree rotation – but with the achievement having significantly raised his profile, he was offered the opportunity to compete in BMX freestyle as part of Team GB rather than remaining with the Red Bull stunt team, who had been his backers.

A couple of years on, and his outlook has changed. The BMX boy wonder is a World and European champion, so when he heads to Paris to compete in his maiden Olympics, he won’t just be going to have fun. Yes, his love for all things BMX remains. But when he heads to the starting ramp at the Olympics, the game face will be on, and Reilly will be targeting a gold medal.

“I started to love competing and it just spiralled out of control,” said Reilly. “I left school and did carpentry for three years. I didn’t fall in love with that like I did BMX. It’s always been a hobby to me, but now I can do this full-time.

“I pretty much feel like, every day, I’m living the dream. It’s far from work for me. Going to the skate park and putting in the work, it’s all a good time.

“Now, I can’t wait to get the Olympics. It’s a dream really, but I’m pretty set on gold. It’s once every four years, and as unfortunate as it is, I think the Olympics is an event where you don’t often remember someone who got fourth place.”

While the demands of an Olympic competition are different to the pressures that Reilly felt when effectively a stunt rider, there is plenty he feels he can draw from, not least when it comes to the process of successfully completing the triple flair.

BMX freestyle rider Kieran ReillyBMX freestyle rider Kieran Reilly (Image: Ian Hodgson)

“It was by far the hardest journey I’ve ever been on, mentally and physically,” said Reilly. “Usually, when we try a trick in the skatepark, you can try it 20 times and keep going. The triple flair was one of those where I could’ve been in the park for eight hours and tried it three times and that was it.

“I couldn’t get off the start ramp, there was just this overwhelming fear. It wasn’t until 8pm on the last day of shooting that I managed to get it done and it was this overwhelming sense of relief, the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had and the only time I’ve ever cried happy tears.”

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Those happy tears might well flow again if Reilly wins gold in Paris, with his distinctive mullet haircut likely ensure that he is hard to miss if he is celebrating with a medal around his neck.

“I went to a different barber, and he gave me a taper with no fade, he pretty much gave me a mullet by accident,” said Reilly, when asked to explain what has quickly become a trademark look. “I got some stick from the team for the whole week, but then I won the Euros, so I thought I would keep it out of spite.

“The next big event was the Worlds, and I won with the mullet. I was thinking, ‘This is my good luck charm now’, so I said, ‘I’m keeping it through until Paris’.”