DownUnderGround

The Australian BMX flatland championships

DownUnderGround is the Australian BMX Flatland Championships, created by Freestyle Now in 2008 to grow and promote flatland BMX across Australia. Drawing on decades of experience in competition organisation and event promotion, Freestyle Now has developed DownUnderGround into a professional, rider-focused competition that runs efficiently while keeping the fun, supportive spirit at the heart of every event. The championships bring together riders from across Australia and overseas, providing a platform to showcase skills, progress the flatland BMX scene, and celebrate the creativity and community of the sport.

History of DownUnderGround

DownUnderGround has evolved since its inception to become Australia’s premier BMX flatland championship. In the early years, the series featured four physical rounds, later reduced to three. Alongside the physical rounds, video rounds were also held to allow riders who couldn’t travel to still compete. You can view past video round submissions here. However, travel costs made it difficult for some riders to attend every round, so the series was eventually streamlined to its current single championship round format which taked place normally in Melbourne.

Over the years, DownUnderGround has been hosted in multiple cities across Australia, including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Bridport (Tasmania), and Adelaide. A full list of past contest results is available on the DownUnderGround contest results page.

DownUnderGround is more than just a competition — it is a gathering for riders from across Australia and around the world. The event provides a chance to meet fellow flatland BMX riders, share skills, and foster the growth of the Australian flatland BMX scene.

For more information on DownUnderGround, if you would like to attend, host a contest at your venue, or would like to support DownUnderGround please contact Freestyle Now

DownUnderGround Australian BMX flatland championships competition results page.

DownUnderGround Australian BMX flatland championships contest videos page.

DownUnderGround – competition description, format,  judging criteria, video round submissions 

BMX flatland freestyle riding is one of the most purist forms of BMX freestyle. No ramps, no obstacles, just the rider and their bike. The word freestyle is made up of two words, Free – no rules to follow, and Style – your own way to ride. Combine these two words you get freestyle, ride how you want without following any formal rules. Fun is one of the main ingredients that is required when riding BMX freestyle. So with that information rules of DownUnderGround are very minimal to allow for this freedom.

DownUnderGround competition categories and description

  • Beginner – Riders who are able to complete simple tricks with not much complex linking ability.
  • Expert – Riders who are able to execute single difficult tricks and/or able to link medium to difficult tricks to form combinations and trick runs.
  • Open – Riders who possess a high level of riding skill, able to execute difficult tricks to form complex or difficult combinations.

DownUnderGround competition format

  • Each competitor has three competition runs.
  • Each competition run can be up to two minutes in duration.
  • A rider can choose not use all of this time.
  • A rider will not be penalized if they opt out before the two minutes is up.
  • Each competitors contest run is judged by three judges.
  • The lowest score is dropped from the three runs
  • The remaining two scores are added together from points for a riders competition run.
  • Highest scores win or proceed to finals.
  • Beginner class has no finals and place getters are determined by an accumulation of points.
  • Expert and Open class have a final consisting of the top 3 to 6 riders depending on the number of riders at each contest.
  • The finals are run in the same format as the qualifying rounds.
  • The top point score being the winner of the competition.

Judging criteria

Each judge will judge the competing rider out of the three categories below. Each judge will score each category out of 20 points; the best possible score from one judge per contest run is 60 points. Each competitor will have all three judges scores added together to form that riders contest run score. 

  • Difficulty – How difficult and complex the tricks are.
  • Consistency – How consistent the rider is in pulling the tricks within the contest run.(feet down, foot dab, smoothness of run)
  • Variety – This is left up to the judge’s discretion on what their own interpretation of variety is. This can take into account range of techniques (spinning, turbining, rolling, scuffing, stationary, pumping…) variety and range of tricks, types of tricks, combinations of tricks, front and rear wheel usage, backwards and forwards.