Dion Newth is from New Zealand. It's roughly two weeks out from the worlds in Glasgow, Scotland and I reached out to Newth who races in the 50 -plus class in cruiser. I was curious how things went for him. He ended up 5th which is a bit of a disappointment for him.
Newth began racing when he was 10 years old. He raced until he was 30 years old and then walked away from the sport. And within that time he says for 10 he simply rode a mountain bike and enjoyed life. He even moved to Australia for a bit. But in 2015 he got the bug again to race BMX. Since then he's won 8 national titles, 3 Oceania titles, and a world title.
Dion says there was a point where he dealt with some mental health issues and he credits BMX for giving hime some focus.
Not retaining his title Newth says it has lit a fire in his belly to come back in 2024 and win it all over again.
