Athletes > Jared Graves > Bio

To the mountain and back
Graves started in the sport at age four and raced until he was about 12. Graves then tired of the sport, and quit, taking a couple of years off from biking completely. He then returned to the bike, as a mountain biker. Then, in January of 2005, with the urging of his girlfriend, he got back into BMX racing. He then finished second in his first pro race following his return.

On the top of the mountain
Graves has continued to compete in mountain biking, finding success in the non-Olympic disciplines of downhill and 4-cross. He won the silver medal at the 2005 World Championships in the 4-cross event. Graves isn't too shabby on a BMX bike either. He is currently ranked second in the world in BMX, according to the International Cycling Union.

BMX in ‘08
Graves isn't too shabby on a BMX bike either. He is currently ranked second in the world in BMX, according to the International Cycling Union. He reached the final at the 2008 World Championships in Taiyuan, China and placed seventh. He also placed second at the BMX Supercross World Cup stop in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2008 and he won the 2008 Australian national title.

Riding fast in Beijing
Last August, Graves rode to a second place finish at the Beijing Test Event on the track that will house the competition at the 2008 Games. He finished behind American Donny Robinson and the Netherlands' Robert de Wilde at the event.