15 Minutes With: BMX Rider Mansour Al Safran

Denzil Pinto 23:41 23/08/2017
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • When it comes to being among the best BMX riders in the region, Mansour Al Safran is certainly on that list.

    For more than a decade, he has been showcasing his extraordinary tricks, flicks and skills in various competitions, while also judging the upcoming talent in the Middle East.

    His own talent saw him become not only Kuwait’s first professional BMX rider, but also a full-time Red Bull athlete.

    Not bad for multi-talented Al Safran, who competed for the Kuwait kayaking national team for four years before finding his new passion of BMX in 2006.

    Ahead of his visit to Abu Dhabi Sports Festival this weekend, the 26-year-old spoke to Sport360° about his career and how he’s trying to influence the kids to get on their bikes.

    HOW DID YOUR INTEREST IN BMX BEGIN?

    It was way back in 2006 when I started watching my friend do the various different tricks. I was 14 at the time and intrigued so I watched videos on Youtube to gain more information as I wanted to try.

    Since then, I’ve practiced regularly and now practise up to four hours whether it’s at home or in a park.

    After I felt comfortable and at a stage where I was doing a lot of new tricks, I wanted to see how I would fare against other people so that’s when I decided to enter the 2006 Red Bull Street Style competition in Kuwait.

    I didn’t get a good place but that only made me more determined to do well in sport.

    WHEN YOU FIRST TRIED EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW BMX MOVES, WEREN’T YOU WORRIED?

    I wasn’t scared at all. I was determined to do this. In Kuwait, there are no skateboard parks which there is nothing I can do about, but that didn’t stop me.

    I’m always happy when I’m riding my bike and to have won many competitions such as the 2009 Lord of the Streets in Dubai, proves that you can follow your dreams.

    ONE OF THE BIG HIGHLIGHTS FOR YOU WAS WINNING BRONZE AT THE 2013 ASIAN FREESTYLE TOURNAMENT IN MALAYSIA. CAN YOU RECALL YOUR MEMORIES OF THAT?

    It was a long time ago but I remember it clearly. Considering it was the best of the best in Asia, I knew it would be difficult to win any kind of medal.

    I began my preparations very early and as well as all the tricks I possessed, I wanted to learn new ones to boost my chances of claiming a medal.

    It was very tough but I impressed the judges and got through to the latter stages. To have heard my name as the bronze medalist was unbelievable because I didn’t set myself a target of where I wanted to finish.

    WHEN NOT ON THE BIKE, YOU’RE ALWAYS CREATING AWARENESS OF THE ACTIVITY BY PLANNING BMX JAM EVENTS IN KUWAIT AND SAUDI ARABIA. TELL US ABOUT THOSE?

    Yes, I’ve organised five events in Saudi Arabia and eight in Kuwait because I noticed at the time, BMX was not quite big in Kuwait, let alone the region.

    I thought the BMX Jam Events was a great way of making BMX popular and also for a chance for other people to showcase their skills and also learn how to do new tricks.

    Now in Kuwait, I’ve noticed that the BMX is growing and a lot of youngsters are taking it up which is very encouraging. When I’m not practising or in competitions, I give tips to people so that they can learn and succeed in what they want to do because I feel that’s very important for me.

    YOU HAVE ALSO JUDGED BMX COMPETITIONS NOT JUST IN YOUR NATIVE COUNTRY BUT IN DUBAI ALSO. HOW IMPRESSED ARE YOU WITH WHAT YOU SEE FROM THE ENTRIES?

    I enjoy it all because, obviously, there’s a lot of pressure on the entries but I’m intrigued how they fare in a competition.

    As a judge, I look for those who do the tricks as well as the style of their routine. I also look at other things like how many tricks they would try in a certain time.

    Every time I’m very impressed with what I see because each competition attracts different types of riders, and sometimes it gives you ideas on how to improve as a competitor yourself.

    BEFORE YOU HAD A PASSION  FOR BMX, YOU ALSO REPRESENTED YOUR COUNTRY IN KAYAKING?

    Apart from BMX, I’ve always liked kayaking. Although it’s something that requires a lot of work in your upper-body, it’s something that is refreshing and a lot different.

    It allows me to get out on the sea and the best thing I enjoy is when you are representing your country in competitions because it’s something special.

    That only pushes you because if you want to gain success, you have to train every day in any sport you want to do.

    Recommended