BMX Racing

Medina joined the organization in March 2023 to run the USA Cycling BMX Racing National Team program. Medina has raced BMX since 1983, and was one of the first pioneers of the sport to start bringing science based training to the early years of BMX Racing in Colombia.

Medina previously worked for the Colombian Olympic Committee from 2007-2022 coaching the BMX Racing team since the sports Olympic debut in 2008. Over the past four Olympic Games, the Colombian BMX Team has raced to six Olympic medals under his guidance, including two gold medals won by Mariana Pajon.

Arielle Verhaaren is one of the most successful American BMX racers and was the first American woman to win a UCI BMX Supercross World Cup.

Having started her BMX racing career at the age of five, she won multiple national titles as an amateur before turning pro at the age of 15. While juggling her professional racing career with a college education, she was selected as an alternate to the 2008 Olympic Team and the same year won the overall UCI World Cup series. In 2009 she won a bronze medal at the UCI World Championships and in 2011 she became the first American woman to win a UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, a feat she followed up with a Pan American Games silver medal. In 2012, Arielle was the first athlete selected to the London Olympic BMX Team but a training accident the day prior to departure left her cheering for her teammates from the hospital. She returned to the World Cup circuit in 2013 and ended the season ranked second overall before officially retiring.

Arielle holds a BS in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University and has completed her MBA from Devry. She spends her free time chasing her daughter, coaching the future generation of BMX athletes, and sneaking in rides and races whenever possible.

A successful professional cyclist in his own right, Jim coached several cyclists on the side and eventually retired from racing in 1999 to focus solely on his flourishing coaching career. After developing several notable cyclists, he originally came to USA Cycling to run the women’s road program in 2002. After earning Coach of the Year distinctions from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in 2003 & 2004, Jim was promoted to director of endurance programs, overseeing the development of American junior, U23, and women endurance athletes in road and track cycling. After making significant strides toward the USA Cycling National Development Program’s goal of developing the next generation of American cyclists, he was named Vice President of Athletics in 2010. In 2017, Jim left USA Cycling to become the Vice President of Business Development for Training Peaks. Unable to resist the Olympic call, he returned to USA Cycling in 2020 as the Chief of Sport Performance. He has earned the International Olympic Committee’s highest honor for coaches, the Order of Ikkos, three times, all for coaching 3-time Olympic Champion Kristen Armstrong to victory.