Matthias Dandois, a BMX flat champion in New York

At 31, Matthias Dandois is one of the pioneers of BMX flat. He has been practicing this discipline for 15 years, which consists of performing tricks on a bicycle equipped with footrests on flat ground. “It’s a kind of ballet, a dance on the ground with a bicycle ”, explains the Parisian eight times world champion.

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BMX was born in California in the 1970s as an alternative to motocross which was too expensive for many young Americans to practice. It then spread to other disciplines qualified as “freestyle”, such as BMX street (BMX street), BMX skatepark (BMX park) and BMX flat. “I started with soccer before I started skateboarding and then BMX at the age of 12, after seeing riders do a little demo on a TV show”, remembers Matthias Dandois. “I learned everything with Carlos Leal, my first trainer in the Parisian suburbs, then with Alex Jumelin (another French professional rider), who helped me get my first professional contract with Adidas”. Matthias Dandois took part in his first competition in the United States in 2005, when he was only 16 years old. “It clicked. I told myself that I could make a profession out of it ”, he says, specifying that his parents have always supported him in his project.

Two years later, Matthias Dandois joined the Red Bull team and his career was definitely taking shape. He won his first world title in 2008. Seven will follow in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. “BMX flat has gained legitimacy. It has now been recognized since 2018 by the UCI (International Cycling Union), and has joined the French Cycling Federation ”, explains the thirty-something tattooed from head to toe. France and Japan have even become the two best BMX flat world stages, ahead of the United States. “It is thanks to a few forerunners like Alex Jumelin, who discovered the discipline a few years before me, and created the first BMX flat school in the world to Baillargues, near Montpellier ”. Very good friend of Matthias, Alex Jumelin was four times world champion and is still active at the age of 42. “I will never forget what he did for me and for the discipline”, launches Matthias Dandois.

The United States remains the ideal place to gain exposure. It is for this reason that Matthias Dandois moved to San Diego six years ago, then to New York where he joined in 2018 his girlfriend, the French model Constance Jablonski. “Before, my job was to compete while trying to appear as much as possible in magazines. It has changed a lot. Today, it is above all about making social media ”. Paid mainly by his sponsors, Matthias Dandois spends 250 days a year traveling, dividing his time between competitions and photo and video projects initiated by the brands. “I visited 85 countries in all. The sponsors are very demanding, and I like that. You have to be a rider, an instagrammer and a director all at the same time ”, he believes. Matthias Dandois has also tried modeling and cinema. His current playground is journalism. After seeing training in London funded by Red Bull, the Frenchman launched a podcast series six months ago on his Youtube channel where he interviews athletes “With an inspiring journey”.

This year, placed under the sign of Covid-19, has been special for Matthias Dandois, who for the first time in 15 years has not had to travel to competition. “It’s clearly a m **** year for BMX. But at the same time, it allowed me to release the pressure, to rest and learn new tricks ”. Figures that he was able to present in September at E-Fise, a 100% digital competition of the 2020 edition of the Montpellier International Festival of Extreme Sports. “Everyone played the game by recording their ‘runs’ on video. I went to the final where I also found Alex ”.

Matthias Dandois does not necessarily see himself still last ten years in the profession, like his friend Alex Jumelin, whom he considers “A motivational UFO in a sport that works a lot on coordination and flexibility of movement.“. Very happy in the United States, a country “with more opportunities ”, the Frenchman with impeccable plastic wishes to develop his production company created two years ago. “We produce video content for me but also for other riders. I would like to move into artistic direction and content production, in extreme sports but also in modeling ”. Until then, Matthias Dandois hopes wholeheartedly that BMX flat will make its debut at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, where he could represent the French team. “It would be a wonderful dream to finish on this”. The decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected at the end of November.