Wade Bootes

Wade Bootes (b. 30 May 1974 in Toowoomba, Queensland Australia) is an Australian professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) and Mountain Bike (MTB) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1995 to 2003 in BMX and 1999 to 2004 in MTB. Usually goes by the moniker "Bootsie" or "Bootsey", an obviously diminutive of his surname. During his mountain bike career he also picked up the nicknmae "Thunder from Down Under". [ [http://espn.go.com/extreme/winterx00/s/bio/mntbiking/bootes.html ESPN Winter X Games bio profile.] ]

Racing career

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

----Started Racing: 1981 in Toowoomba, Queensland Australia at age 7.

Sanctioning Body:

First race result:

First win (local):

First sponsor:

First national win:

Turned Professional: November 1993

First Professional race result:

First Professional win:

First Junior Pro* race result:

First Junior Pro win:

First Senior Pro** race result:

First Senior Pro win:

Retired: Still Active

Height & weight at height of his career Ht:5'8" 173cm Wt:~180-190lbs. 86 kg

*In the NBL "B" Pro/Super Class/"A" Pro/Junior Elite Men depending on the era; in the ABA it is "A" Pro.
**In the NBL it is "AA" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" Pro.

Career factory and major bike shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.

----

Amateur

*Cobra: Mid 1980s-1989

Professional

*Lowey Axles/Kovachi Wheels/Crisp: Mid 1994-August 1994
*American Bicycle Association (ABA)/Kovachi Wheels: September 1994. Seeing his talent after immigrating to the United States and doing very well immediately, the ABA sponsored him, paying his entrance fees with Wade driving their trucks and help building their tracks in return. [ [http://www.wadebootes.com/about/ Wade Bootes's original website] ] Sanctioning bodies sponsoring individual racers has precedent in the world of BMX. Perry Kramer and Tinker Juarez were both sponsored by the National Bicycle Association (NBA) in the mid 1970's.

*Poor Boy: September 1994-June 1995
*Redline Bicycles: June 1995–July 1996. Reportedly Bootes was dropped from the Redline team along with teammate Matt Hadan after Redline management got word that both were negotiating with Trek/Gary Fisher. ["Snap BMX Magazine" September/October 1996 Vol. 3 Iss. 5 No. 12 pg. 8]

*Trek Bicycles-Gary Fisher/Volkswagen: July 1996-2004

*TeamWBR (Wade Bootes Racing)/Percentage: 2005-Present

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in "italics". "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

----

Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*None (Defunct) National Bicycle League (NBL)
*NoneAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*NoneUnited States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
*NoneFédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
*NoneInternational Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
*NoneUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

*See note in professional section.

Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*NoneNational Bicycle League (NBL)
*NoneAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*"1996 Pro Cruiser World Cup Champion"
*1996 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion
*"1996 Pro Cruiser National No.1"
*"2000 Pro Gold Cup East Champion"
*"2000 National No.1 Pro".United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
*None (defunct)International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
*None Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
*None (defunct)Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
*None

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC, the amateur cycling arm of the UCI, had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1996 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.

Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
*"2000 Australia Gold Coast Super Nationals Champion"

BMX product lines

*1998 Trek "Wade Bootes Team Issue" Frame and fork set.:Product evaluation:
*2001 Trek "TI-1 Wade Bootes Signature Frame" :Product Evaluations::"Snap BMX Magazine" December 2000 Vol.7 Iss.12 No.50 pg.114 (2001 Model Year)

ignificant BMX injuries

*Injured a knee at the ABA Empire National in Kingston, New York on August 20, 1994 when he slammed into a haybale (one of many used to define the race course) at high speed and thrown bodily onto the ground. ["October 1994 Vol.16 Iss.9 pg.42]
*Injured a knee shortly after the 1994 ABA Fall Nationals. He was laid up until the middle of January 1995. ["BMX Plus!" December 1994 Vol.17 No.12 pg.6]

*Buckled his left knee on a triple jump at the 1995 ABA Grandnationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in his Pro Open Semi-final. He had surgery on December 29, 1995. He was laid up for until the ABA Lumberjack National in Olympia, Washington on the weekend of February 2-3, 1996

BMX and MTB magazine covers

Note: (defunct) denotes that the magazine was out of business before the career of the racer started.

----"Bicycle Motocross News:"
*None (defunct)"Minicycle/BMX Action" & "Super BMX:"
*None"Bicycle Motocross Action" & "Go:"
*None"BMX Plus!:"
*April 1997 Vol.20 No.4 (7) in upper insert in second behind leader Greg Romero. Unidentified racers in background. in upper right inser freestyler Jason Pope. In bottom insert various standing pegs. Main

*January 1998 Vol.21 No.1"Total BMX:"
*None (defunct)"Bicycles and Dirt:"
*None (defunct)"Snap BMX Magazine" & "Transworld BMX:"
*November/December 1996 Vol.3 Iss.6 No.13 (66) ahead of Alan Foster (9) (Snap)"Twenty BMX:"

"BMX World:"

"Bicycles Today" & "BMX Today" (The official NBL membership publication under two different names):

"ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer" (The official ABA membership publication under three different names):

BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

*"Texas Road Trip" "Snap BMX Magazine" May/June 1996 Vol.3 Iss.3 No.10 pg.46 One of four separate mini interviews of two fellow pro racers Jason Carnes, John Purse and "Poor Boy" company owner Steev Inge residing in the American state of Texas.
*Rolling Stone Magazine interview and pictorial in October 28, 1999 issue. [ [http://www.bmxtreme.com/news/news_prev_11011999.htm bmxtreme.com article. Word search for "Rolling Stone" (without the quotation marks).] ]

Miscellaneous and Trivia

*In 1996 Wade Bootes became the first foreign born competitor to win an ABA National title when he became Pro Cruiser National No.1. ["BMX Plus!" March 1997 Vol.20 No.3 pg.37] Due to a rule that the ABA had that was still enforce in 1995 that forbade non US citizens from winning an American title French citizen Christophe LeVeque was disqualified from winning the 1995 ABA National No.1 title, despite him winning the most points. The ABA had abolished the rule by the beginning of the 1996 season.

Post BMX career

MTB Racing career

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

----Started Racing:

Sanctioning Body:

First race result:

Retired: Still Active

Career factory and corporate sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by MTB press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.

----

Amateur

*No amateur status.

Professional

Career Mountain Biking titles

Note: Listed are Regional, National and International titles.

Amateur

*No amateur status.

Professional

Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA)
*"2006 Australian MTNX National Champion"National Off Road Bicycle Association (NORBA)
*2002 Dual Slalom ChampionUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
*"1999 Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"
*"2000 Gold Medal Dual Slalom World Champion"
*"2000 Bronze Medal Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"
*"2001 Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"
*"2001 Bronze Medal Dual Slalom World Cup Champion"Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
*2003,2004 Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Champion

Notable accolades

*Voted 2000 Australian Cyclist of the Year in both BMX & MTB.
*Voted 2002 Australian Cyclist of the Year in both BMX & MTB.
*Voted 2003 Australian Cyclist of the Year in BMX. ["Transworld BMX" April 2004 Vol.11 Iss.4 No.90 pg.22]

ignificant MTB injuries

*While competing in the snow mountain bike event at the January 1999 ESPN Winter X Games in Colorado he suffed an attack of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) due to the high altitude. HAPE is potentially fatal. He was told by a physician to rest for two weeks. ["Snap BMX Magazine" May 1999 Vol.6 Iss.3 No.31 pg.20]
*Suffered a minor separated shoulder during the dual slalom event of the first round of the World Cup in Maribor, Slovania in early June 2001. [ [http://www.bmxtreme.com/news/news_prev_6_27_2002.html bmxtreme.com news] ]
*Broke right collar bone at the 2006 MTB World Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand during qualifying rounds on August 23, 2006. Stayed overnight at a Rotorua hospital. [ [http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=news/2006/aug06/aug25mtbnews August 25, 2006 Cyclingnews.com article] ]

Racing habits and traits

*In October 2004 Wade Bootes became one of the first BMX racers to be suspended from the sport for taking the banned substances amphetamine and methamphetamine after a drug test result came back positive for those performance enhancing drugs:

"Bootes banned for six months.

Australia's bike star Wade Bootes has been suspended for six months after testing positive to a banned stimulant. Bootes, a serious contender on the MTB 4-Cross and BMX circuits,tested positive for a banned stimulant at the Mont Sainte Anne Mountain Bike World Cup in Canada earlier this year. The 30-year-old from Queensland has contested the result, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport imposed the ban on Friday. Bootes is a former world champion in the now-defunct mountain bike discipline of dual slalom and a former Australian mountain bike and BMX cyclist of the year." [ [http://www.prokoprider.net/Prokoprider2003/eng.php Prokoprider.net Story inside scroll box.] ]

He denied taking the drug intentionally:

Bootes denies intentionally taking stimulant:

"I have tested positive to a banned stimulant following my worst result for the season at a race in Canada in June. I am totally against performance enhancing drugs in sport and any form of drug abuse. I always have been and I always will be. I did not intentionally take any banned or illegal drug before the event in Canada.

"The Australian Cycling Anti Doping Policy, like the policies of most countries, does not distinguish between intentional use of banned substances and unintentional use. Thus I was found guilty of an infraction of Cycling Australia's Anti Doping Policy.

"Thankfully the Court of Arbitration for Sport accepted that I did not intentionally take any banned substance . My 6 month suspension reflects that finding! I have to "wear" the ban, and I will. I have learnt a valuable lesson out of all of this and I will never again put myself in a position where this can happen again.

"I would like for my unfortunate experience to be a warning to all athletes to understand the rules of the Anti Doping Policy and to be aware of all the banned substances and not to accept any food or drink from people that they do not know.

"I do not wish for anyone else to be put in the same position which I have been, unknowingly and unintentionally taking a banned substance and being suspended due to the rules and regulations of the Anti Doping Policy. [http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/oct04/oct13news2] ----October 13, 2004 Cyclingnews.com article.

End Notes

External links

* [http://www.ababmx.com/ The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.]
* [http://www.nbl.org/ The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.]
* [http://www.wadebootes.com Wade Bootes's website]
* [http://www.wadebootes.com/racing.html Wade Bootes TeamWBR.com website]
* [http://www.bmxq.org.au/riders/wadebootes.html BMX Queensland rider profile]
* [http://www.bmxultra.com/prosection/interview/wbootes.htm/ June 1998 Interview by BMXUltra.com]
* [http://www.trekbikes.com/trekracing/vw/bios/bootes.jsp TrekBicyles/Volkwegen profile and MTB/BMX Career Highlights from 1998-2003]
* [http://www.velonews.com/race/mtn/articles/7077.0.html October 9, 2004 Velonews article about Wade Bootes's banning from cycling for six months]
* [http://www.bmxultra.com/prosection/interview/wadebootes2005.htm/ July 2005 BMXUltra.com Interview]
* [http://www.jeepmtnbiking.com/jeepmtn/teamsNathletes.aspx?aid=242&cid=104&search=/ Jeep Mountain Biking Profile]
* [http://www.qasport.qld.gov.au/athlete_profiles/wade_bootes.cfm Queensland, Australia government profile of Wade Bootes]
* [http://www.thechronicle.com.au/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3719830 January 31, 2007 Toowoomba Chronicle article]
* [http://www.oliverfuhrmann.de/wadebootes.htm]