Kim Hayashi

Kim Hayashi
Personal information
Full name Kimberly M. Hayashi
Nickname "Lil Kim", "Shorty", "Kim Woo", "Lil Sushi", "Krashin' Kim", etc.
Born (1986-01-27) January 27, 1986
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Height 1.47 m (4 ft 10 in)
Weight 58.1 kg (128 lb)
Team information
Current team Speedline / Supercross BMX
Discipline Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role Racer
Rider type Off Road
Amateur team(s)
1998-2000 Gordy's Bike Shop
2000 Enigima Factory Team
2000-2001 Redline Bicycles
Professional team(s)
2001-2008 Redline Bicycles
2009-2010 Gordy's Bike Shop
2010-Present Speedline / Supercross BMX

Kimberly M. Hayashi (b. January 27, 1986 in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States) is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 2000–Present. Her many nicknames include: "Lil Kim", "Shorty", "Midget", "Sushi Roll", "Kim Woo", Lil Sushi, et al..[1] all references to her diminutive 4' 10", 128 lbs.[2] stature. She is also known as "Krashin' Kim"[3] for her penchant to crash in races. She crashed in her first lap in her very first professional race in 2002 colliding with another rider.[4] Despite this she would become the National Bicycle League (NBL)'s five consecutive number one professional women's racer from 2002 to 2007, which caused her to pick up yet another descriptive nickname: "Tenacious K".[5]

Racing career milestones

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

Started Racing: 1998 at age 12 in Chandler, Arizona at the Chandler BMX track. Her brother introduced her to the sport.[1]

Sanctioning Body: American Bicycle Association (ABA)

First race result:

First race bike: Gary Fisher[6]

First win (local):

First sponsor: 1999 Gordy's Bike Shop.

First national win:

Turned Professional: November 2001 at age 15 immediately after the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Grand Nationals. Redline teammate Bubba Harris also turns pro on this occasion.[7]

First Professional* race result:

First Professional win:

First Junior Women race result:

First Junior Women win:

First Elite Women** race result:

First Elite Women win:

Retired: Still active. She had plans to retire after participating in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics[6] but her Olympic bid was quashed when she failed to make it out of the qualifying rounds at the UCI World Championships in Taiyuan, China. Jill Kintner qualified as the United States sole female BMX Olympic participant.[8] She intends to keep on racing with the 2012 Summer Olympics as her goal (See "Post BMX career" section).

Height & weight at height of her career (2002–Present): Ht: 4'10". Wt:128 lbs.

*In the ABA only one level of professional class. No equivalent of the NBL/UCI's Junior Women class exist. The NBL/UCI Junior Women division is a Pro/Am class. A professional 16-year-old in the ABA must race in UCI Junior Women because you must be 17 years old or older to race in Elite Women. The NBL does have a dedicated Women's Pro class separate from the UCI.
**The NBL/UCI Elite Women division is a Pro Am class. You must be 17 years old and older to race in the Elite class.

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 used.

Amateur/Junior

Professional/Elite

Redline would like to thank Kim for her service and dedication these past 9 years, and wishes her the best of luck in her future - whether it be going for Olympic qualification in 2012 , racing part-time for the Gordy’s team, or going on to become an Orthodontist. We know first hand that whatever Miss.Hayashi sets her sights on, she will give it more than 100% and blasts toward completion of that goal as if a World title were on the line. That is something that the sport of BMX Racing, along with riding for team Redline, has taught her. “Always give it your all.”[10]

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. Only sanctioning bodies that were active during the racer's career are listed. 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/Junior

National Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

*Even though she was a professional racer in the ABA by the time the 2002 UCI World Championships were held on July 27–29, she was still only 16 years old at that time and per UCI rules had to race in the youth and/or amateur division of the cruiser classes as part of the Challenge Championships, the championship races for those 16 years and younger that were held the day before the Adult and/or Professional classes in the UCI World Championships.

Professional/Elite

National Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

USA Cycling BMX:

Independent Pro Series Championships and Invitational Races

The Robbie Miranda 59 (RM59) Tropical BMX Challenge is an Invitational BMX exhibition race created and promoted by professional BMX racer Robbie Miranda (whose father is Puerto Rican[11]) in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico. It is sanctioned by the Puerto Rican BMX Association (PRBMXA) for the local amateur racers who come out to race and see the BMX stars they only see in the BMX Press since no nationals are held by any major sanctioning body in Puerto Rico.

Notable accolades

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Significant injuries

Racing traits and habits

Tended to crash, earning the moniker "Krashin' Kim". She had a four-year annual first main crash streak during the ABA Grand Nationals until the 2006 edition in which she not only didn't crash in the first main, but was the Grand National winner. She achieved this it is said because she was all but mathematically out of contention for the No.1 Pro Girl title (she didn't win the title despite winning the event).[12]

Post BMX career

She had plans on retiring after the 2008 Beijing Olympics if she had made it on to the US Olympic BMX team. She had plans to focus on Dental School and become an orthodontist from then on.[13] However her Olympic bid ended when she failed to make it out of the qualifying rounds at the UCI World Championships in Taiyuan, China. Jill Kintner qualified as the United States sole female BMX Olympic participant.[8] She finished out the 2008 season but suffering from injuries sustained in crashes. On December 3, 2008 she had surgery on an injured shoulder incurred in a crash. However, she fully intends to keep racing after recovering from her surgery and rehabilitation. She also intends to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. As she said in a December 29, 2008 post in Vintagebmx.com under her screen name of Redlinegirlkh:

I just had surgery on Dec 3rd and I WILL be back. Don't count me out for 2012 because I have the experience from this past year and I know what it takes to be a champion.[14]

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

BMX magazine covers

Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career(s) are listed unless specifically noted.

BMX Plus!:

Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:

Moto Mag:

BMX World:

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

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

Notes

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