A KNEE injury sustained in the final round of the BMX national series has forced Newborough’s Tom Siinmaa to miss the national titles
“Unfortunately someone ran into me and my knee went straight away,” Siinmaa said.
“I was going really well, then all of a sudden I was on the ground looking up at the sky.” Siinmaa, who had spent 12 months preparing for the race, will have scans on his knee later this week but was confident he will be able to race in the United States next year.
“It was frustrating that I missed out on the nationals, but the winter is a bit quieter in terms of racing so now I’ll just focus on a couple of races here and then on training for the 2013 national series in the United States,” he said.
Next May, Siinmaa will head to the US to race on its professional tour, something he was “seriously excited” about. “Over there, there’s so much more money in it with sponsorship,” he said.
“For those guys it’s a way of life, I can’t wait to get there and experience it and hopefully do alright.”
Siinmaa said he hoped to be competitive in the US, following some impressive results against international competitors in Australia.
Before he takes on the world’s biggest BMX tour, Siinmaa said he had a lot of bulking up to do.
“Over there the racers will be a bit bigger and stronger and more skilled,” he said.
“It’s more full on over there because they compete and train more, so until then I’ll focus on getting stronger on and off the bike.”
In the Australian national series, Siinmaa finished eighth overall which he was “pretty happy” with.
He said he will contest the Queensland titles in November as well as the final round of the Victorian championships in Shepparton.
“Of course the races this year depend on my knee,” he said. “Fingers crossed it’ll be okay.”
