A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy impressed judges with his tricks and skills on his BMX bike at a competition which attracted contestants from all over the world.

Steven Peach came third at the Kids Battle of Hastings 2019 BMX Jam in the under eights division on July 20, after discovering a passion for BMX riding aged five.

The competition, held in Hastings, East Sussex, and organised by Source BMX, only introduced the under eight class this year.

Steven, from Brighton Hill, Basingstoke, first started riding a bike when he was three-years-old, before riding his first BMX aged five.

He started racing at Andover BMX Club where he quickly realised his love of riding fast and jumping high.

The seven-year-old now focuses on BMX freestyle.

Steven competed against 14 riders in Hastings, with some coming from Europe and America to take part, and he was delighted to come in the top three, saying: “Coming in the top three at The Battle of Hastings made me feel proud to be one of the top three best kid riders.

“I love BMX because it’s like a sport that you can do your own thing and you can train yourself to do anything like crazy tricks, and when I do jumps it’s like flying.”

His parents were there to cheer him on, and his dad, Steve, said: “Watching our son ride in the competition was so exciting as the standard of all the kids was really good. It’s actually quite scary at times watching him. When he came third, we were so happy for him as he works so hard to continuously improve.”

Steven, who is known as slingshot_steve on Instagram, is now preparing for more summer competitions and has dreams of one day being a professional rider and representing Great Britain in the Olympics.