Quillan Isidore bouncing back on his BMX for World Championships
Sunday 28 August 2016 08:02, UK
If smashing into dirt and overcoming bruised ribs and a battered ego was a sport, then Quillan Isidore would be the 2015 champion. Three times over.
The Sky Academy Scholar described his "worst ever racing day" at the BMX World Cup opener in his last blog and building up to this weekend's World Championships, Quillan has opened up about the struggles of dealing with big crashes and the mental skills needed in such an explosive sport.
Great Britain's BMX team are in Heusden-Zolder in Belgium and the 18-year-old from London is desperate to get his Olympic qualifying campaign back on track. Here are Quillan's latest words as he prepares for his debut at senior level at a World Championships......
I had some heavy crashes in April and I was lucky to walk away. I rested up and recovered well and the injuries didn’t stop me from training. I then went to Holland for the World Cup and I dislocated my shoulder. So that wasn't great!
My head just wasn’t in the right space. I was physically ready but not mentally and I wasn’t able to perform to my best ability. I discussed it all with my coach, what was going wrong, and I had to get my head focused back on training.
I was off my bike for three weeks and then got back into training and I started enjoying it again. Then at my home National Championships I was warming up and snapped my chain ring. I slipped over the bar warming up on the street and landed on my shoulder so I ended up missing that. So I haven't had the best of luck over the last few weeks!
My times in training have been going well though and I feel fresh and confident again and I’m really looking forward to getting back out there at the Worlds this week in Belgium.
What happened in Manchester really knocked my confidence though. I had put down fast times compared to other riders in the world’s top 10, but after my crashes I couldn’t bring myself round and forget what had happened.
I had been at a World Cup race before but that was when I was 16. This was different. But I couldn’t forget the crashes before each race and it played on my mind. It annoyed me and it made me want to go out and do better.
I ending up trying too hard so I wasn’t able to do my best. I was over-thinking and sometimes when you have an injury that reminds you of it again. I have been one to sulk but now I just focus on what went wrong. I always analyse how I can improve and do better. I do get annoyed though – that’s life – win and lose some.
It’s a learning curve and it’s all about building your confidence when facing the best riders in the world and being able to forget what’s happened and being able to race the best riders again.
You never think about a crash at the start of a race. You only think about beating the guys next to you. Sometimes your confidence can take a knock if you are stuck in between a world and Olympic champion.
You can sometimes be so fired up thinking that you won’t have a chance in the race unless you get an amazing start.
This can make you back off although that’s never something you intentionally do. But if you start thinking about crashing then that’s what will happen.
In training, if I start to have doubts then I’ll step away and refresh my mind. It’s not good to think too much at the start gate. I do occasionally speak to my psychologist and he gives me tips and makes sure I’m in the right frame of mind.
My coach will also give me advice and help me to feel fresh and confident. Having said all of that, it’s me that has to finish it all off so I can perform. But that's what I am here to do – I am an athlete. This is my job.
Quillan Isidore is one of 12 athletes being supported through the Sky Academy Sports Scholarships scheme.
The Scholarships offer a programme of support tailored to each athletes specific requirements covering areas such as funding, media coaching, mentoring and wider developmental support.
