Mike Day is a BMX cyclist who has competed professionally since 1994. He won the silver medal in the men's BMX at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Nickname
Day's official Union Cycliste Internationale number - which was originally assigned to him by the American Bicycle Association - is #365, the number of days in a year. As a result, his number and surname - 365 Day - relates to the common phrase "...365 days per year". The origin of the nickname is explained by Mike:
Introduction to racing
He began cycling at the Valencia Raceway on his ninth birthday. He followed his older brother around on his rides so his father decided to take him to a race. His first race bike was a GT Interceptor
Professional career
Day turned professional in April 2002, at the age of 17. His first professional result was second place at the American Bicycle Association Winter Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona on April 6, 2002. His first professional win was in the "A" pro category at the National Bicycle League Golden State National in Prunedale, California on May 5, 2002 He also won on Day 2 the next day. In the seniors events, Day's first result was sixth place in "AA" Pro at the ABA Fall Nationals in Del Mar, California on October 26, 2002. His first win was in "AA" Pro at the ABA World Championship in Ontario, California on July 23, 2005 It took Day three years to obtain his first Senior pro win. His first race with GT Bicycles/Red Bull was the ABA Silverdollar National in Reno, Nevada on January 6, 2007 In 2005, Day won the 2005 NORA Cup. Day is a 2008 ABA Golden Crank winner for Pro of the Year.
On June 14, 2008 Mike Day won a place on the USA BMX Olympic Team by winning the Team Trial at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. This was the first United States BMX team to compete at the Olympic Games. For six months prior to the Olympics, Day trained at a duplicate of the track to be used in Beijing. Day refrained from competing in the UCI BMX World Championships in Beijing, China which were held two weeks prior. On August 20, Day qualified for the Semi Finals, by winning both the Seeding Run time trials and was the overall winning of the three runnings of his Quarter Finals, sweeping all three. On August 22, Mike Day won the Silver medal in the Men's BMX Final at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, becoming the second American ever to win an Olympic medal for BMX.
