Olympic Commissaire Kevin Braybon and his path to ‘the pinnacle’

When the 25 athletes named into the Australia Olympic Team line up against the world’s best for Paris 2024, they won’t be the only people at the Games representing Australia.

Reaching the Olympics is just as much an accomplishment for those in charge of officiating an event at the Games, and Australia has a long tradition of sending officials and commissaires to the biggest multi-sport event in the world. 

In Paris, two critical Commissaire roles will be occupied by Australians, with Karen O’Callaghan the Secretary of the Commissaire Panel for Track events, while Kevin Braybon has the prestigious title of President of the Commissaire Panel for BMX Racing. 

Ahead of the Games, AusCycling took the opportunity to speak to Kevin about his accomplishment and to learn about his path the Games.

Firstly, congratulations on the appointment. It's a huge accomplishment. Can you tell us how you first found out you would be going to Paris, and what was your reaction?

Well, the UCI sent out appointment via emails. So, when I received it, it happened one morning. I was still in bed, talking to the wife and she was telling me something, and I opened up the email and went, “ah, I think I better tell you this,” and yeah, it was like, “oh my God, I'm going to the Olympics.” It was very exciting. I was pretty much at a loss of what to say at the time, but it was like, “yeah, cool!” 

Now that the news has sunk in, how are you feeling about it? Are you excited? Nervous? Proud?

Probably a bit of everything. Yes, excited, proud, nervous. I mean, it is basically the pinnacle of where we can get to as an International Commissaire, to be a PCP [Principal of the Commissaire Panel] at the Olympics. So, yes: proud, nervous, scared. All of the above. But I can't wait.

Your official title in Paris is Jury President for BMX racing. Can you explain what that involves and how it differs from some of the other positions, such as Technical Delegate?

The Jury President basically looks after everything that's to do with the racing of the event, from staging, through to starting, to the race, to the finish and scoring, and all rule violations, if any.

Whereas the technical delegate is somebody who looks after outside the field of play, is probably the best way to put it. They look after making sure that the track is safe for the riders. Both of us do the inspection of the track; we both will walk around together and make sure that we're both happy with everything on the track.

They're there to look after things like, say, a rider will come off and take out one of the air bags on the corner. The Technical Delegate’s job is to go and make sure that that's all back in place, ready to go [and] possibly make sure that the track is clear of any debris. So together, we work to make sure that the track is in the best condition and is as safe as possible for the riders to ride on. 

What do you imagine could be some of the challenges or difficult situations you might encounter? And on the other side of that, what might be some of the highlights that make your job enjoyable?

Some of the things we will face will be just making sure that all the riders and teams meet the criteria that the Olympics put in place when it comes to the uniforms and the bike. We’ve got to make sure that with the bikes, that they haven’t brought something along that's not going to be an even keel with everybody else. We have rules about aero and things like that, so we've got to look at those things.

A lot of that stuff goes on before we even get to start the racing. So, once the racing starts, 99 per cent of time those things have all been sorted, and we can just go out and concentrate on putting on a show for everybody out there, for the riders, for the public, for the TV viewers, everything.

For me, the exciting thing is just being there to witness it, to be able to congratulate some of these riders that I've been watching come through from juniors all the way through to where they are now, so that's one of the great parts about the sport.

Can you give us a snapshot of your pathway as a BMX official?

My wife and I started in the sport in about '93, '94, in a place called Tom Price, which is about 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, and I think when we first started there was about a dozen riders in the club.

So, like any kid’s sport, as a parent, to be able to get things to happen you had to volunteer to do something. Obviously, you go out and you stand on the corner, and you wave flags. And then when you go to the next level, you go to a state series, you’ve got to volunteer. So, you do the same. And then you get to the state titles, and you volunteer.

 And then, in 2001 we moved to Adelaide, and I think it was the state titles one year, and there was a line-up of bikes and I just offered to help scrutinise the bikes, and the state officiating director went, “Oh, you seem to know what you’re doing.”

 So, within 12 months, I ended up being the state officiating director of South Australia. And then just progressed into national titles and going from there.

 I was never going to be one of those parents that stood on the sideline and yelled abuse. For me, it was like, if I didn't think someone could do it correctly, I'd go out there and hopefully try and do it correctly.

 And then after a couple of years of national titles, a gentleman called Ray Stanley – who used to be the trainer for UCI – approached me, and said, “I think you’ve got what we want. Would you consider it?”

 So, I had to go to Malaysia, to do a pre-examination course. Sat that, passed that, and then it was like, “We would like you now to come to Switzerland, to the UCI and do the course over there.” Went and passed that, and just went from there.

 I became an IC – International Commissaire – and I did lots of little C1s around the place, in Indonesia, China, New Zealand, just little events, and slowly worked the way up to doing World Cups, continental championships, World Championships, and now the Olympics. So, it was a very long, slow process, but it was well worth it in the end.

What does becoming an Olympic Games official involve? Did you apply for it, or are you selected or invited by the IOC?

No, I was selected by the UCI. It’s been a bit of a build-up over the last few years. In 2022, I was appointed to the World Championships in France as the PCP, and that was obviously to see how I would go, if I could cope with the pressure.

And then, again, appointed to Scotland last year in Glasgow as PCP, and then again, this year to Rock Hill. So, the UCI put you in the position, and then I think you either sink or swim, if you put it politely.

Don't get me wrong, they do give you support, but it's not a role for everybody. A lot of people think we just turn up on the day, but there's a lot of work that goes into the event. It's almost eight to 12 months out of work just getting ready for an event like that, with meetings, Zoom meetings, emails. It's ongoing. It's a lot of work.

What enjoyment do you get out of officiating BMX at this level?

It's a hard one. I think it's like any athlete: you put in the hard yards, and you get to the pinnacle of it, and it’s probably the adrenaline rush of doing it. You just get the thrill of it.

I mean, yes there's a lot of sacrifice to go through it. You've got to have a lot of support from your family, because the UCI wouldn't allow partners or wives or husbands to come to events. And if they do, they have to stay in a separate motel, and you've got no contact because you're there to do a job.

But for me, I’ve done all the hard yards, and my kids are out of the sport, and I’ve gone, “Well, I'm not going to stop now.” And now I don’t actually have anybody in the sport other than myself.

Realistically, then, I can really concentrate on what I'm doing, and not have to worry about, you know, if your son or daughter’s bike is okay for the next race, or are they going to make the Main, or whatever. I can now purely concentrate on doing my job as the PCP at an event.

What would you say your strength is as a commissaire?

I have a bit of a funny mind for policies and procedures. Where I used to work, I was always the one that people would come and ask about what the policy was for this or that, because I just for some reason remember them.

But I think my biggest thing is being able to be neutral. My wife used to always say, “I don’t know how you can do it. You can stand there, be being blind-faced and not hold any grudge or anything to anybody.”

Even after I’ve had a parent or a rider or a teammate come and just go at you, and then [to be able to] walk away. To me, it's just part of the job. They're just doing what they need to do and I'm doing what I've got to do. Apparently, I'm very impartial, is what I'm trying to say [laughs].

What would your message be to anyone that's just starting you out as an official, not just in BMX but in any cycling discipline, or maybe they're thinking about getting into it?

Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the events. Always remember, it's about the event and it's about the riders. It's not about you. We are there to oversee the event, not necessarily direct where it's going to go. That’s the way I feel.

My mentor used to always say, never forget about the event. The event is most important. You need to make that event happen and enjoyable.

And another thing was that, if you’re, say, the PCP or the head referee or the head commissaire at an event, and a month after the event has happened and people go, “Oh, who was in charge?” And they go, “Oh, that was that guy, Kevin Braybon. Remember what happened, blah, blah, blah.” Or, a month later they go, “Oh look, I can't remember who it is.”

If they come and say, I can't remember who was in charge, I think you've done a good job. You had a subtle influence over the event without creating issues, if that makes sense.

Who are the people that you'd like to recognise that have been part of your journey and helped you achieve, as you say, the pinnacle in the sport?

Obviously, my family. The wife and my kids. There’s been many, many events where they've been on the sideline either watching or racing and I'm out there in the middle all day, every day, doing it.

But Ray Stanley would be my mentor. He's the one I looked up to in the beginning and still do. Paul Connors and Tracey Vince. The three of us, we basically went through the process together, and I think without each other – we’ve been able to lean on each other, bounce things off each other – it would have been a much, much harder, journey for the three of us.

 And I think Norm McCann from UCI for having the faith in me to be able to get to where we are. Yeah, there's lots of people behind the scenes that are there, but yeah, I think they're the main people that I would have to say have been in my corner since the beginning, in a sense.

BMX Racing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be held on August 1–2 at the Saint-Quentin-Enyvelines BMX Stadium in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France.

Sections of this interview have been edited for length and clarity