The 2023 DownUnderGround, the Australian BMX flatland championships video round is complete. Riders from around Australia spent hours riding one of the hardest forms of BMX freestyle, flatland BMX, and gaining clips to submit for the DownUnderGround 15 video round. Riders could submit multiple clips in their video up to 2 ½ minutes. It’s great to see the riders putting time in and supporting BMX flatland by entering and being involved. Congratulations to Gonzalo Bellanti for taking the win and pushing his progression his clips are definitely worth watching a few times. Freestyle Now squad members Paul Chamberlain took the 2nd place while Shaun Jarvis had a respectable 5th place. Congratulations to all the riders.
It was great to have the commentary from our judges, Joe Cicman, James McGraw and Jon Dowker as well as Paul Chamberlain and organizer Shaun Jarvis. Their comments are both a valuable insight and comedic relief for the world’s longest running BMX flatland video contest.
After a 2 year hiatus DownUnderGround was back to a physical contest. BMX flatland riders from around Australia and the world converged on Melbourne to partake in one of the hardest forms of BMX riding, flatland. The last physical contest was in 2019 with video contests taking place in 2020 and 2021. DownUnderGround, the Australian BMX flatland national championships took place at Rampfest in Melbourne as part of the Australian BMX freestyle championships. The location was sorted outside to host the competition but in true Melbourne form the weather was not kind. The wind had picked up to gale force conditions so it was decided to move the competition indoors, and go back to the year 2000 and ride between the ramps.The format was each rider having three runs, each up to two minutes long. The lowest score dropped and both remaining runs added together.This was the 14th year for DownUnderGround. It’s a time when friends come together from all over Australia to ride, share tricks have good times and build the BMX flatland scene in Australia. DownUnderGround also has a video contest helps riders earn points toward the year end title.
Clockwise from top left – Gonzalo Bellanti took home the win and year end title once again in the open class – Heru Anwari from Indonesia has been living in Melbourne for a few years now and ripping it up. Only a few points behind Gonzalo for the second place in the open class – Making his way from Indonesia for the contest Botay Agata took the 3rd place in open class and did some crazy switches from the front to back wheel and back again. This Time machine was just one of his spinning tricks – BMX flatland legend Grant Cruise is always a pleasure to watch ride. This funky chicken was prime but his quick spin was one of the contest highlights.
Clockwise from top left – Philipp Frueh took home the win and the year end title in the expert class. This lard yard was just some of his trickery – Freestyle Now CEO Shaun Jarvis letting go of the bars to grab the pegs, took out the 2nd place in the expert class – from his his home city of Nara in Japan Yuki Tokui proceed to take the 3rd place spot in the expert class – Tom Palonek is back and riding and was great to see him smash out these smith decades to 4th place in the expert class.
Clockwise from top left – Kevin Filmer said he has not been riding much but he was really consistent with the trick he was doing like this front yard, 5th place experts – One of Australia’s most progressive riders, Melbourne rider David Rooney had some struggles with the contest floor location and it showed in his consistency. 6th place – Top 3 expert place getters – Top 3 opens place getters. All photos thanks to Stephen Pretty
DownUnderGround – the Australian BMX flatland national championships – official results 19th November 2022
Expert class – 1st Philipp Frueh 216 points, 2nd Shaun Jarvis 213 points, 3rd Yuki Tokui 209 points, 4th Tom Palonek 195 points, 5th Kevin Filmer 173 points, 6th David Rooney 170 points
Open Class – 1st Gonzalo Bellanti 297 points, 2nd Heru Anwari 285 points, 3rd Botay Agata 258 points, 4th Grant Cruise 255 points
The 2022 DownUnderGround, the Australian BMX flatland championships video round is complete. Riders from around Australia spent hours riding one of the hardest forms of BMX freestyle, flatland BMX, and gaining clips to submit for the DownUnderGround 14 video round. The video round is round 1 in the championships with round 2 the physical contest taking place in Melbourne on the 19th November. Riders could submit multiple clips in their video up to 2 ½ minutes. It’s great to see the riders putting time in and supporting BMX flatland by entering and being involved no matter their skill level. Some stand out entries from Paul Chamberlain and Gonzalez Bellanti are definitely worth watching a few times. Freestyle Now squad members Shaun Jarvis took 1st in the expert class with Paul Chamberlain taking the 2nd in the open class. Congratulations to all the riders and all the best at the first physical DownUnderGround contest since 2019 this weekend in Melbourne.
2022 DownUnderGround – Australian BMX flatland championships – video round – official results
Beginner class – 1st Paul Grzinic 94 points, 2nd Scott Hone 83 points, 3rd Tom Palonek 78 points, 4th Nilsson Popplewell 68 points
Expert class – 1st Shaun Jarvis 111 points, 2nd Yuki 110 points, 3rd David Rooney 105 points
Open Class – 1st Gonzalez Bellanti 156 points, 2nd Paul Chamberlain 146 points, 3rd Heru Anwari 132 points, 4th Phillip Frueh 123 points
Competition format – Each judge scores each category out of 20 points;
Difficulty – How difficult and complex the tricks are.
Flow / smoothness – A riders ability to control their bike and make the combos flow.
Variety – Range of tricks, types of tricks, combinations of tricks, front and rear wheel usage, backwards and forwards. This can take into account range of techniques (spinning, turbining, rolling, scuffing, stationary, pumping…)
The best possible score from one judge per video run is 60 points. The three judges points are added together to determine the winner and place getters.
2021 DownUnderGround, the Australian BMX flatland championships number 13 was a video only contest due to travel restriction within Australia. For whatever reason the number of riders who entered was smaller than past years even though the concept was changed this year so riders could submit multiple clips in their video up to 2 ½ minutes. We did get two new riders entered into the beginner class that we have not seen in an Australian flatland competition, this was super rad. As we did for last year we invited the judges, Paul Chamberlain and Joe Cicman and James McGraw, to offer commentary, competition run reviews and general banter on the final video. Freestyle Now squad member Shaun Jarvis took out the 2nd place in the expert class.
Competition format – Each judge scores each category out of 20 points;
Difficulty – How difficult and complex the tricks are.
Flow / smoothness – A riders ability to control their bike and make the combos flow.
Variety – Range of tricks, types of tricks, combinations of tricks, front and rear wheel usage, backwards and forwards. This can take into account range of techniques (spinning, turbining, rolling, scuffing, stationary, pumping…)
The best possible score from one judge per video run is 60 points. The three judges points are added together to determine the winner and place getters.
2020 DownUnderGround , the Australian BMX flatland championships number 12 was a video only contest, open to all riders around the world. With the current global situation with Covid -19 travel restrictions are in place around the world and earlier this year within Australia. This made organizing a national contest problematic. We could not set a date as we never knew if or when travel restrictions would ease up in Australia and or if riders would even want to travel interstate with the current conditions. As DownUnderGround has had a video round as part of the contest for many years it was a easy decision to make 2020 a video only contest. To make the video even more special we had our contest judges live announce over the video after they had judged the video contest and the riders were placed in the video according to their contest placement. Thanks to Shaun Jarvis, Paul Chamberlain and Joe Cicman and James McGraw.
The format of the contest was easy, riders submit their video as if they were riding at a contest. No edits or multiple clips, one continual run, no less than 1 minute and no more than 2 minutes. Each rider’s video was judged by three judges using the DownUnderGround contest format. Each judge scores each category out of 20 points;
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.
The best possible score from one judge per video run is 60 points. The three judges points are added together to determine the winner and place getters.
Due to the nature of the contest we knew we would get many international riders entering than Australian riders. This just made the contest so much more rad. The level of riding around the world is amazing. Some many great riders being able to showcase their riding and their riding spot. Nothing but pure radness in the video.
DownUnderGround number 12 is now upon us. With the current global situation with Covid-19 travel restrictions are in place around the world and definitely in Australia, It is highly unlikely that a physical contest will take place. Yes this is a sad situation as all of Australian flatland riders enjoy the time when we can come together and ride and catch up with everyone. DownUnderGround first started holding a video contest back in 2013 so in true tradition of DownUnderGround a video contest will be held but this will have a twist, but you will have to wait for that information till after entrees close. Riders will need to submit their video entry by 31st October. Your video entry will form the contest for the Australian championships. Who will be the 2020 Australian bmx flatland champion? Thank you to DownUnderGround supporters – Freestyle Now and Colony BMX.
Check out the DownUnderGround Australian BMX flatland championships competition results page for a full rundown from all DownUnderGround competitions
Contest information.
The video contest is open to all Australian and international riders in beginner, expert and open classes. The video submitted will need to contain an unedited bmx flatland run similar to what you would unleash at a contest. The video must contain up to two minutes worth of riding, but no less than 1 minute. You are not judged on the quality of the video but on the quality of your riding. The video must be clear enough to show your riding. The video is judged and winners are determined just like a normal contest with the videos being posted on line for the world to view. Each rider’s video will be judged by three judges using the same criteria as the normal DownUnderGround contest format. (listed below) All videos we will loaded to our YouTube channel.
Judging criteria
Each judge (three judges) 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.
How to submit your DownUnderGround video
Go to www.wetransfer.com
Click on the “Add Files” button and add the video file that you want to send (don’t send a raw video as it will be to big, run it through a edit program / app to reduce the file size)
Friends email is our email –
enter your own email and in the message, your name and details.
Click on “submit” and it’s all done. We Transfer sends us an email and we receive your video.
Have a look at the 2019 DownUnderGround video round, this was a bonus round for the physical contest that took place in Melbourne
DownUnderGround, the 2019 Australian bmx flatland national championships took place in the home base of bmx flatland in Australia, Melbourne. On a nice Melbourne sunny day riders converged on the Melbourne Museum to compete against each other for the Australian bmx flatland champion. Bmx flatland riders from around Australia and the world converged on Melbourne to partake in one of the hardest forms of bmx riding, flatland. It was good to see a great turnout with a few international riders attending. The format was each rider having three runs, each up to two minutes long. The lowest score dropped and both remaining runs added together.
The weather was perfect and the riding was rad. This was the 11th year for DownUnderGround. Its a time when friends come together from all over Australia to ride, share tricks have good times and build the bmx flatland scene in Australia. DownUnderGround has a video contest that the points from go to the year end title. It’s a way to help get the edge over on other riders to help gain that Australian championship title.
The three most progressive beginner riders in Australia battled it out once again for the top three spots in the beginner class. In the beginners class heading into the contest it was Paul Griznic who had a great video entry and was sitting in first place. He didn’t ride as consistent as he would have wanted to and only took a 3rd in Melbourne. His progression is good though and its rad to see that passion. In Melbourne it was local rider David Rooney who ended up taking the win from Rusty Eylward-Pyko in the beginners. David was just a little bit more consistent than Rusty but both rode well. It was really good to see Reuben Pedlar progress so much over the past year. With his first in the video round and a third in Melbourne it was Paul Griznic who to the year end title in the beginners class. All three riders said they were keen to move up to the expert class for next year, we await to see.
1st place beginner class David Rooney – photo Stephen Pretty
In the expert class it was Philipp Frueh that took the win in true Philipp riding style. Second place went to Matt Spencer who rode really well. Third place when to Western Australian rider Shaun Jarvis. Fellow Western Australian rider Trent Karow had won the video round and took a 5th place in Melbourne. This put Trent and Shaun on equal points as Shaun took a 3rd in the video round and a 3rd in Melbourne. The way to work out who was the year end champion was a trick of. After 3 rounds it was Trent who got the judges approval for the win. Congratulations Trent.
1st place expert class Philipp Frueh – photo Stephen Pretty
Freestyle Now squad member Shaun Jarvis took 3rd place in the expert class – photo Stephen Pretty
1st place in the open class went to Heru Anwari – photo Stephen Pretty
The open class was tight between Argentinean rider Gonzalo Bellanti and Indonesian rider Heru Anwari. After the qualifying round both had scored 261 points, who was going to be first and second. Third place went to Sydney resident Paul Chamberlain who had a cracker first run with only one touch. To settle who was going to take first place it was down to a trick off. Gonzalo and Heru each had 30 seconds to pull their tricks. After the first round they judges could not decide, on with the second round. Still the judges could not decide. The third round was super tight with the judges taking some time to deliberate and finally the win was given to Heru. With a first in the video round and a second in Melbourne the year end title went to Gonzalo Bellanti.
DownUnderGround 11 was awesome. If you did not attend you either could not make it or you were abducted by alien creatures. Be sure to attend DownUnderGround 12. Thank you to the competition supporters Freestyle Now, Colony BMX, Sneaky Wholefoods, Anchor bmx, ZTFFbmx , Penumbra Bmx.
The 2019 Australian champion in the open class Gonzalo Bellanti – photo Stephen Pretty
Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain took home the 3rd place in the open class – photo Stephen Pretty
Clockwise from top left – Top 3 in beginners – Top 3 in experts – Top 3 in open – The 2019 Australian bmx flatland champion Gonzalo Bellanti.
DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland championships and has been going since 2008 with Freestyle Now being the competition organizer. Once again DownUnderGround will return to Melbourne for the 11th year of the national competition on 7th December at the iconic Melbourne Imax in Carlton.
DownUnderGround also has a video contest to help riders earn points toward taking the Australian bmx flatland championship title. Riders submit a contest video between 1 and 2 minutes in length. The rider has to perform their tricks on camera as if they were at a physical contest. Riders are then judged according to the judging criteria.
This year the video round judges were –
Freestyle Now squad members Paul Chamberlain (judging beginners and experts) and Shaun Jarvis (judging opens), both are no strangers to competitions having judged and entered many DownUnderGround competitions. James McGraw. James has been in flatland for over 30 years and had competed and is still competing at the highest level. James is behind the American Flatland Association, making sure the grassroots movement of bmx flatland is always being promoted and influenced in the USA. Joe Cicman. Joe is legendary for pushing the boundaries what is possible in BMX flatland and inspiring other to push the boundaries.
We would like to give a big thanks to the judges and it was great to have their input into judging the video round.
Thank you once again to our competition supporters Freestyle Now, Colony BMX, Anchor BMX, Sneaky Wholefoods and ZTFF BMX. Hope to see many riders at DownUnderGround on the 7th December at Melbourne Imax in Carlton, come on down to witness the best bmx flatland riding in Australia.
2019 DownUnderGround – Australian bmx flatland championships video competition results
Beginner – 1st Paul Grzinic – Melbourne, 2nd Greg De Bois – Sydney, 3rd David Roomey – Melbourne
DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland championships and the 1st December saw the finals hit the iconic location of the Melbourne Imax. Bmx flatland riders from around Australia and the world converged on Melbourne to partake in one of the hardest forms of bmx riding, flatland. It was good to see a great turnout with a few international riders attending. This was the tenth year of DownUnderGround, the first contest took place in Perth in November 2008. Over the past 10 years many riders have attended at various locations around Australia to compete and have fun. In Australia bmx flatland riders would rarely get to hang out if it was not for DownUnderGround. It’s not just about a competition, it’s a time for riders to come together, share tricks have good times and build the bmx flatland scene in Australia.
David Rooney is progressing well in the beginner class ad took another win in Melbourne for DUG 10.
There have been many changes with DownUnderGround over the ten years. When it first started there were four contests around Australia, now there is only on physical contest along with the video contest, this makes travelling easier for the riders. Melbourne has the biggest bmx flatland scene in Australia so it makes perfect sense to hold the contest where the majority of riders live.
Clockwise from top left – Year end title holder Philipp Frueh mid hitchhiker – Freestyle Now boss man Shaun Jarvis moving into a upside down backward wheelie and a 3rd place in expert – Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain doing his best strong man pose while wearing some of that Freestyle Now rad dude merch – Heru Anwari returned from Indonesia once again to throw down some of his radical riding like this front wheel to back wheel whip transfer.
In the beginners class heading into the contest it was Paul Griznic who had a great video entry and was sitting in fist place. He didn’t ride as consistent as he would have wanted to and only took a 3rd in Melbourne. His progression is good though and its rad to see that passion. In Melbourne it was local rider David Rooney who ended up taking the win from Rusty Eylward-Pyko in the beginners. David was just a little bit more consistent than Rusty but both rode well. With his first in the video round and a third in Melbourne it was Paul Griznic who to the year end title in the beginners class. What was great to see with all of the beginner riders was the willingness to give it a go and not care how sketchy they were, that is what is needed at more competitions.
Beginners L-R – 2nd place Rusty Piko, 1st place David Rooney and 3rd place and year end title holder Paul Grzinic.
In the expert class it was a close result between Philipp Frueh and Shaun Jarvis. These rider had scored 2nd and 3rd in the video round so only 5 points separated them going into the championships in Melbourne. With western Australian rider Trent Karow not at the competition it was up to Tasmanian rider Chris Letchford to ride well enough to take the win in the expert class with Philipp and Shaun taking the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively. With two seconds it was Philipp Frueh who took home the year end Australian championships title in the expert class. Good work Philipp.
Chris Letchford has been heading to DownUnderGound for 10 years now and in Melbourne took home to Tasmainia a 1st place.
Experts class L-R – Philipp Frueh with a 2nd place and the year end title, Tasmanian Chris Letchford in 1st and Freestyle Now squad member Shaun Jarvis stoked on his 3rd place.
The open class is was all about Agentinian rider Gonzalo Bellanti. With taking a first in the video round he was almost untouchable to take the year title. Indonesian rider Heru Anwari was present to keep the heat on him though. Heru won the Australian championships last year and was back to defend his title. With 3 run each the riders were able to be a bit more relaxed on the runs knowing that their lowest score would be dropped. Gonzalo had more combos completed and rode a bit more consistent than Heru who had some fast cross footed techniques but consistency defiantly held him back. So 1st to Gonzalo and 2nd to Heru. DownUnderGround veteran Paul Chamberlain took home the 3rd place in the open with some great riding but consistency was down.
Gonzalo Bellanti rode with consistency and difficulty for the win.
Open class L-R – Heru Anwari from Indonesia with a 2nd, Argentinian Gonzalo Bellanti taking the 1st and the year end title and Freestyle Now squad member Paul Chamberlain in 3rd place.
DownUnderGround 10 was awesome. It had a great relaxed vibe. All the riders were happy with the new format of 3 runs and dropping the lowest run, it worked well. Planning has begun for DUG 11 which will no doubt take place in Melbourne towards the end of 2019 along with the video round announced around mid year.
DownUnderGround is the Australian bmx flatland championships and has been going since 2008 with Freestyle Now being the competition organizer. Once again DownUnderGround will return to Melbourne for series 10 of the national competition on 1st December at the iconic Melbourne Imax in Carlton.
DownUnderGround also has a video contest to help riders earn points toward taking the Australian bmx flatland title. Riders submit a contest video between 1 and 2 minutes in length. The rider has to perform their tricks on camera as if they were at a physical contest. Riders are then judged according to the judging criteria. This year the video round judges were –
Paul Chamberlain, Freestyle Now squad member and flatland rider who is no stranger to competitions having judge and entered many DownUnderGround competitions
John Yull, Winner of the 2017 Master Of Creativity video contest and judge of the 2018 master of creativity video contest
We would like to give a big thanks to the judges and it was great to have their input into judging the video round.
Thank you once again to our competition supporters Freestyle Now, Colony BMX, Anchor BMX and Sneaky Wholefoods. Hope to see many riders at DownUnderGround on the 1st December at Melbourne Imax in Carlton, come on down to witness the best bmx flatland riding in Australia.
Check the DownUnderGround video to see the contest runs from the riders
2018 DownUnderGround – Australian bmx flatland championships video competition results
Beginners – 1st Paul Grzinic – Melbourne, 2nd Troy Williams – Whyalla
10th April – Skatepark jam session Yanchep skatepark Yanchep Western Australia
10th April – Skatepark coaching session skateboard, scooter, bmx Cooloongup skatepark Cooloongup Western Australia
11th April – She / Her Skatepark coaching session skateboard, scooter, bmx Cooloongup skatepark Cooloongup Western Australia
11th April – Rollerskate Skatepark coaching session Cooloongup skatepark Cooloongup Western Australia
12th April – Skatepark competition skateboard, scooter, bmx Cooloongup skatepark Cooloongup Western Australia
13th April – Pump track coaching workshop session (BMX / MTB) Hester Park Langford Western Australia
13th April - Rollerskate skatepark coaching Fremantle skatepark Fremantle Western Australia
13th April - Skatepark jam session BMX scooter rollerskate Kwinana skatepark Kwinana Western Australia
14th April - Bayswater BMX and MTB jump track opening Bayswater BMX and Mountain Bike facility (Under Mooro-Beeloo Bridge) Katanning St Bayswater Western Australia
20th April – Skatepark competition skateboard, scooter, rollerskate, inline, bmx Balga skatepark Balga Western Australia
21st April – Skatepark coaching workshop session Dowerin skatepark Dowerin Western Australia
24th April – BMX / MTB air bag jumping coaching session Honeywood Park Wandi Western Australia
27th April - Skatepark competition BMX scooter Busselton skatepark Busselton Western Australia
27th April - Skatepark competition BMX scooter Dunsborough skatepark Dunsborough Western Australia
