Olympians Headline USA Cycling’s Elite BMX Nationals in Chula Vista May 18

All five members of the 2012 Olympic team will be competing alongside more of the country's best BMX riders vying for Stars-and-Stripes jerseys on Saturday, May 18, at the 2013 USA Cycling Elite BMX National Championships. The racing begins at 11 a.m. PDT at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

The elite men's field includes 2012 Olympians Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./BMX Racing Group-Chase Bicycles), David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent Bikes) and Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bicyles), as well as 2008 Olympic silver medalist Mike Day (Valencia, Calif./GT Bikes). Fields, last year's national champion, is fresh off his wins at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, last weekend where he dominated the competition, winning both the superfinal time trial and the main event.

Herman has reached the podium at each of the last two national championships, earning a silver medal in 2011 and a bronze medal last year. He also placed fifth at the world championships last year. Long was the 2010 national champion and was runner-up to Fields in last year's competition. Day is also a three-time world championship medalist, winning silver in 2005 and 2009, and coming home with a bronze medal in 2006.

Olympian Alise Post (St. Cloud, Minn./Redline USA) is seeking her third consecutive elite national championship after becoming the first-ever back-to-back champion last year. Post will face stiff competition from 2012 Olympic teammate Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bicycles) and Olympic team qualifier Arielle Martin (East Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX), who placed seventh in the supercross final at the World Cup in Argentina on Saturday. Crain opened the World Cup season last month with a second-place finish in Manchester, England.

Motos begin at 11 a.m. with the juniors women, followed by the juniors men, elite women and elite men. Semifinals start at 12:15 p.m. with the final rounds slated for 12:40 p.m.

Admission and parking at the USA Cycling Elite BMX National Championships is free.

For updated news, schedule of events, photo gallery, results and more, visit the 2013 USA Cycling Elite BMX National Championships page. You can also follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #BMXNats.