Ones to watch - Kye Whyte

The 20-year-old from Peckham, South London, got into cycling as a way of getting away from crime and drugs which are prevalent in his area.

The road to Tokyo hasn’t been straightforward for Kye. He started riding at just four years old and quickly won 10 consecutive junior British titles.

It was at 13, however, that the first big test came. Unfortunately, Kye had an accident that would rule him out of competition for 10 months and result in him losing his place in the GB squad. Thankfully, he overcame this setback to reclaim his spot and hasn’t looked back since.

2018 was a breakthrough year for Kye in which he won a silver medal at the European
Championships. In 2019, he went one better and won the gold medal at the World Cup in Manchester. This was a popular victory for the home crowd and also boosted his world ranking into the top 10.

Kye’s older brother, Tre Whyte, is also part of British Cycling’s BMX set up and in 2014, Tre was the world number three. Growing up as part of a close-knit family, Kye and Tre have always shared a healthy rivalry and helped to push each other in a positive way.
A long-term goal of Kye’s is to race at the Olympics and win a gold medal, something
which he is on track to do at Tokyo.