Donny Robinson is currently the eldest AA-pro in our sport - having turned Pro in 1999. His moniker is “dR” (his initials), often followed by 10 (his UCi career number. According to Wikipedia, the use of the lowercase “d” for his given name is perhaps related to his relatively diminutive physical size. Always small in stature, since a very young age, Donny was always the smallest child in his age group. But what he missed out on in size, he far made up for it in heart, drive and determination. On June 25, 2008, Robinson was chosen by Mike King, team director of the 2008 USA BMX Olympic Team, to represent the U.S.A.. His teammates at the 2008 Beijing debut were Jill Kintner, Mike Day, and Kyle Bennett. His Olympic dream was realized at least in part when he came in third at the Summer Olympics winning a Bronze Medal; avoiding a pileup that saw South Africa’s Sifiso Nhlapo take out nearly half the field. Since it was the sport’s debut and the Mens final was run after the women’s, he officially became the third American and the sixth person overall to win an Olympic Medal in BMX Racing. Throughout his career and often since Beijing, dR has gained a reputation of landing onhis head. A LOT. One of the toughest guys around, he admitted in late 2013 to suffering at least 25 concussions over the course of his career. In the same interview, he advocated for better concussion protocol at the lower levels of BMX racing. Donny’s great sense of rumor - mocking his own reputations as the “little, old guy with memory loss” has boosted dR’s popularity, and he always seems to be a fan favorite, drawing the most cheers from the crowd.

Māris Štrombergs (born March 10, 1987 in Valmiera, Latvia) is a professional BMX racer - hailing from Latvia but currently living in Murrieta, California. In the 2008 Summer Olympics (held in Beijing, China), Maris became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year, he’d won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships - also held in China. By doing so, Maris became the first Latvian-born Olympian to ever win a Gold medal - instantly boosting him up to Superhero status in his home country. Four years later, he prolonged his Olympic title by winning the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympic games - completely dominating the main event, and doing a great job of holding off Sam Willoughby for the win. Upon returning from the 2012 Olympics, Strombergs was greeted by thousands of fans in his hometown Valmiera - and whenever he visits back home in Latvia, he is a huge recognizable, sports celebrity.

2012 USOC Olympic Trials winner 2012 U.S. Olympic Team member 2013 UCI BMX World Champion Time Trial 2013 UCI BMX World Cup Elite Mens Winner 2013 UCI BMX World Cup Time Trail Winner 2013 RedBull Revolution Winner

Since a very young age, Australian Sam Willougby’s dream had been to race in the USA and become the No.1 Pro. It’s been a long and tedious journey - one that he has worked very hard to achieve. Incredibly, he’s made it come true. In fact, that dream has come true three times so far. While working his way to the top of the Australian ranks, Sam became the first rider to win back-to-back Junior World Titles (2008 and 2009), before moving up to the Elite ranks. It was in 2010 - now with full factory support from Redline Bicycles, that Sam won his first No.1 pro title in America. His soaring 2011 results helped pull Australia to the highest ranked BMX nation - and Sam capped things off with a UCi World Championship; only three months out from the London Games. Full of confidence, Willoughby made his Olympic debut in London where he would again tackle the world’s best, and did his best to chase down Latvia’s Maris Strombergs. Sam wound up with a silver, for his first Olympic try - and upon returning to his new home in the U.S., proceeded to win another National No.1 Pro title in USA BMX. 2013 could very well be Sam’s best year ever; as he kicked off Day 2 of the Winternationals with a AA-pro win and wouldn’t stop winning until 13 races later. Sitting out Southpark to prepare for the Worlds, officially ended Sam’s win-streak, but he would start a new one with a late-season charge of 5 consecutive wins, clinching yet another No.1 Pro Championship. His 13-consec win-streak would shatter the previous Pro record, held by John Purse - and his 18 Win total for the year places him in 2nd place for “most wins” in a season. While the 2013 Cup was his third ever, his 2-in-a-row feat places Sam in good company - joining Brian Patterson, Gary Ellis, Pete Loncarevich, Christophe Leveque, Warwick Stevenson and Bubba Harris. While Sam surely has nothing else to prove - and has already put his name in the BMX history books, he’s definitely not done dominating the sport. There was a lot on the line in 2014: Could Sam tie Bubba Harris’ lone record of 3-in-a-row? At the same time, would he put a 4th No.1 Cup in his collection amd add his name alongside Ellis and Loncarevich as the only 4-in-a-lifetime Pro Champions? Sam went to Tulsa looking like the favorite - winning the 2014 ROC, but was struggling a bit out of the gate in a couple of races. Unfortunately, a bad gate start in the all important Grands semi forced Sam to make up some ground from mid-pack, and while in the 4th place transfer spot he would up casing the berm-jump and going OTB. His weekend, his year and his quest for a record-setting No.1 Pro title was no over. In 2015, Sam is again on target for the No.1 title - and we'll find out in November if he can earn himself a 4th No.1 Pro championship.