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Rim Nakamura is the BMX freestlye pro that you should really know about
The Japanese BMX athlete is beginning to make his name on the world stage. Now 21, he’s already won major contests and is on track to dominate the discipline of BMX Park riding for years to come.
BMX freestyle has never had a greater global profile than it does right now. In Japan, the BMX freestyle scene has been growing for a number of years, and there is an increasing number of Japanese riders who compete around the world and are gaining the attention of the global BMX scene.
Young, talented and going places
© Eisa Bakos/Red Bull Content Pool
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01
Early life
Nakamura, who was born in Kyoto in 2002, found that BMX and bikes was part of life from an early age. His father, a BMX nut, called his son Rim after, yes you guessed it, the rim of a wheel. The family business at the time was a bike shop in Kyoto called Hangout, which focussed heavily on BMX bikes and parts.
Nakamura's father encouraged his son to get on a bike as soon as he could physically do so. Nakamura began riding at three and entered his first BMX competition aged five. His natural talent flourished from there aided by riding with his father and watching videos to imitate tricks done by BMX pros. 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.
2 min
Rim Nakamura: Commute to class
This is just one way of getting to lectures on time if you're up an coming BMX star Rim Nakamura.
02
Getting recognition
Going pro only seemed a matter of time. In 2015 he travelled abroad to the USA to take part in the Recon Tour and won the U15 class. This win marked him out as the leading rider of his generation. In 2016 came the event that really announced him on to the world scene. He took part in the G-Shock Real Toughness event in Tokyo and won the BMX Street contest, beating a field of experienced international pros.
Nakamura has helped to build the profile of BMX Freestyle in Japan
© Jason Halayko/Red Bull Content Pool
03
Strengths
What marks Nakamura out from his peers is the sheer amount of air that he gets when he rides BMX Park. Lots of airtime means more time for difficult aerial tricks, which in turn gets higher points score from judges.
Nakamura has been working on as getting much height as he can from obstacles, ramps and banks since childhood. Packing in as many trick combos as he can while in the air is part of his signature style and it has helped elevate him to world level in BMX; he’s got the competition success to prove it.
Getting airtime is a skill Rim has mastered
© Hikaru Funyu
04
A world class BMX athlete
After becoming Japan’s national champion in the first All Japan BMX Freestyle Park Championships in 2017, Nakamura began competing regularly on the world stage at events that really matter. A roll call that includes FISE events, the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup, VANS Pro Cup, X Games and Simple Session.
The FISE World Series (which also count as rounds of the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup) has been a key competition in his development as a world class athlete.
12 min
Hiroshima
An international group of BMX riders head to Japan to compete in the FISE World Series.
In 2019, he took second at the FISE Hiroshima round, and then took a win at the Chengdu round in China on his way to winning the 2019 UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup overall. These results followed his participation in the 2018 FISE World Series where he advanced to the finals in three of the Park rounds.
A silver medal at the 2019 X Games in Minneapolis made him the youngest medalist in BMX Park in the 24-year history of the X Games. The X Games is regarded as the blue ribbon event for BMX Freestyle.
Watch the Clockworks 60 episode below to see Nakamura taking that win in at the FISE World Series in Chengdu.
05
Winning Simple Session
He started the 2020 season well by winning the Park contest at Simple Session in Estonia. Everything was geared up for Nakamura to do well in Tokyo, where BMX Freestyle Park was appearing as an Olympic event for the first time. Then the pandemic hit and the Olympics were pushed back a year to August 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 now 19-year-old Nakamura finished fifth out of the 9 finalists.
2021 was also the year that Nakamura opened up his own Park training facility in Kyoto. Called WingPark, the indoor Park gave him a base to train and attempt new tricks.
Watch Nakamura's winning run at Simple Session 2020 below
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.
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06
Becoming World Champion in 2022
Nakamura became the UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Champion in 2022. At the Urban Cycling World Championships in Abu Dhabi in November, Nakamura scored 93.80 points to finish ahead of American Justin Dowell and third-placed Anthony Jeanjean of France. 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 comments that the secret of his strength is a drive that thrives on competition and adversity. But ultimately, it’s his love of BMX that motivates him, that allows him to jump up the levels in competition and that means that the future is bright and full of possibility.
Nakamura showcases his BMX Street skills in Kyoto
© Jason Halayko/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull spoke to Nakamura to find out more about how he ensures he’s riding his best for each event.
What kind of training do you do?
I just ride a bicycle! I don’t do any strength training such as sit-ups or push-ups. It’s just my theory, but I think the muscles needed for BMX will be gained by riding BMX, so I’m just doing that. If I get achy muscles, I’ll take a rest day, but I like riding so I don’t always notice it!
What else do you do to help your performance?
The more you sleep, the better you get, and I’m really good at falling asleep! I sometimes share a room with other riders on trips overseas, and even then, I can sleep soundly, no worries!
How do you set your goals?
I know my current strengths, and set goals based on those criteria. For example, I have an aim to be in the finals of the world’s big BMX events and so I’ll aim to do that.
Nakamura gets nervous but tries to channel that nervousness the right way
© Hikaru Funyu
How do you manage your mood when you don’t win?
BMX riders throw their bikes on the floor as soon as they fail! But that’s just an immediate reaction. After the event, I try not to worry too much. I think ‘Okay, that was that event, so now just think about the next event’. I switch my focus immediately.
What aspects or habits would you like to quit or fix in yourself in order to get better?
Trying new skills; at first it makes me feel scared, which is natural, If you fall and hurt yourself, it’s painful. But then it feels so good when you get it right, I can’t stop riding.
I find that I get nervous easily. I try not to overthink it, but instead enjoy it and allow for a little bit of tension. I try to have a positive outlook, like I’ll open the curtains in the morning and say ‘It’s really nice today!’ And that will improve how the day goes.
Nakamura has his own Park facility called WingPark in Kyoto
© Naoki Gaman/Red Bull Content Pool
When did your confidence that you could compete on the world stage grow?
When I had my own BMX Park built (WingPark) in Kyoto in 2021. I was able to practice various techniques there every day. Before that, I didn't have an environment like this in Japan, so I regularly went abroad to practice.
Are there any tricks that you still want to do that you think can push you to be the world's best Park rider?
Double backflips are still difficult. A few years ago no one had done it but now many athletes are doing it. So the difficulty of the trick is important. However, it is also important to choose tricks that no one else does, or to refocus on tricks that were pretty mainstream in the past but haven't been done recently. I am conscious of looking for and incorporating things that no one else is doing.
