A plane ride away from Colombia, BMX star Oquendo at home in Rock Hill

Carlos Oquendo casually sits back on his bike, dangling his goggles from the handle bar, waiting for his turn to dismount the steep 8-meter start hill.

Amongst the sea of uniforms splattered with neon colors and graphics, the BMX racer braves the many hills and turns of the track, riding coolly back to the start line to make another pass.

“It’s a good terrain,” he said, wiping sweat from his forehead as the sun starts peeking through the muddy clouds.

The 26-year-old Olympic bronze medalist from Colombia will compete with some of the best BMX riders in the world today at the Novant Health BMX Supercross Track in Rock Hill for the Carolina Nationals – the fifth stop on the BMX Nationals tour.

The series of 34 events across the country is open to amateur and pro riders that runs through November. The professionals usually compete in about half of the events, with the results counting towards multiple points standings, including ones that decide Pro Series championships and Olympic qualification.

This is his second stop in Rock Hill since October. Then, he trained. This time, he is competing.

“The track is fast,” he said, as young children dressed in similarly splashy uniforms dart in and out of the paths of their grown-up BMX heroes.

Riding alongside the kids, some as small as toddlers, is essential to the sport, Oquendo said.

“I think that is the most important part,” he said, adding the children look up to the athletes and see them as “a regular person.”

Oquendo started the sport before he was old enough to attend school. His father saw a flyer for BMX and he began riding by the time he was 5 years old with his brother Alex. A hobby at first, once he learned BMX was added to the roster as an Olympic sport when he was 15, he started taking it seriously.

“Ok, I want to try it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. In 2012, Oquendo won a bronze medal at the Olympics in London.

Aside from soccer, BMX is a popular sport in Colombia because the media is hot on its trail, he said, which makes it visible to the public. Cycling, in general, is a notable sport; Colombian racing cyclist Nairo Quintana placed second in the 2013 Tour de France.

Comparatively speaking, Colombia has more BMX racers per capita than the United States, he said, with around 1,100 racers.

It’s a sport that keeps many of its athletes far from home for months at a time. Oquendo spends about four months away from his country.

But making the trek to Rock Hill makes traveling much easier, he said.

With its close proximity to Colombia, Oquendo can hop on a plane and be in Rock Hill in five hours. From Los Angeles, the flight is nearly 10 hours long, he said.

“It’s much better here,” he said.

When he is not seated on a bike, Oquendo loves to do what a typical 26-year-old enjoys doing on his time off – being with family and friends, he said.

In fact, on his return to Colombia after his win at the 2012 Olympics, his homecoming party was “crazy,” he said.

“It was amazing, just the happiness,” he said.

Oquendo is confident he will once again make one of the spots for the Colombian Olympic team for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

“Yeah for sure,” he says about his chances for qualifying, flashing a large smile while fastening his helmet back in place. “I feel good.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 10:47 PM with the headline "A plane ride away from Colombia, BMX star Oquendo at home in Rock Hill."