Teen's velodrome success after switching from BMX

The 17-year-old recently won gold at the Junior World Track Cycling Championships

A teenager who recently won a gold medal at the Junior World Track Cycling Championship has said he almost did not take up the sport because of the tight-fitting, stretch uniforms competitors have to wear.

Kristian Larigo, 17, from Sutton Coldfield, who used to be be a BMX rider, said it was "not appealing at all" to someone who had "only worn baggy clothes his whole life".

He saw past his aversion, however, and now has his sights set on a podium finish at the Olympic Games in Brisbane in 2032.

His championship gold medal came in The Netherlands where he was the start rider in a team of three, a role about which he remained modest.

"Man One," he said, was "pretty much just getting up to speed as fast as possible and pulling that team round in the first lap to make it as easy as possible for them."

He only started track racing three years ago.

"I started off, like anybody else, just up and down the park on my old little mountain bike with stabilisers in Great Barr Park, then moved on to BMX riding.

"I did that until 2022 and went to the World [Championships] in France, after that I decided it was not really my thing anymore."

Kristian still cycles himself to school – albeit not as fast as he spins around the race track – while studying for his A Levels.

His dad Mark said the teenager seemed to be "at home" when he was riding, adding that he would feel "freaked out" by riding across the top of the velodrome.

"I'm just glad it's him and not me," Mark said.