Bennett, Kintner claim American BMX crowns

Olympic Game hopefuls Kyle Bennett and Jill Kintner have claimed the American elite BMX titles as the sport prepares to make its Olympic debut in Beijing this August. Bennett claimed his victory in a tough race, that featured defending champion Donny Robinson. Kintner on the other hand rode away from the field with Arielle Martin and the pair fought for victory between one another.

"This is probably the most competitive national championship race in the world and that makes the title even more special," said Bennett. "Even though the track is very different from what we'll see coming up it is very good for my confidence."

In the other two championship classes, Denzel Stein and Terra Nichols earned national titles in the junior men's and women's races respectively.

The championship class athletes were also awarded points towards their USA Cycling BMX Ranking. For elite athletes, these rankings will determine the long team from which the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team will be chosen. In addition to the four championship class categories, USA Cycling distributed additional national championship jerseys as amateurs competed for both national titles and the right to represent the United States at the UCI World Challenge in China this May.