We discovered this shot in our 1995 photograph files. Mountain bike icon John Tomac holds his son Eli during a mountain bike competition in Hawaii in 1995. John was a world-class mountain biker at the time, and Eli was just two years old. Eli Tomac, who was born on November 14, 1992, was just 32 years old when MBA staffer John Ker took the snapshot over 30 years ago.
John Tomac is widely regarded as one of the finest mountain bikers of all time. He won both the UCI World Cup XC title and the XC World Championship in 1991. He also finished second in the UCI Downhill World Championships that year, and again in 1997. John Tomac has also won multiple national championships in the United States, including cross-country and downhill.
In the 1980s and 1990s, John Tomac was well-known as one of the best and most elegant mountain bike jumps. If the Red Bull Rampage had existed in the early 1990s, John Tomac would most likely have won it as well.
John Tomac recently revealed that Eli began riding a motorbike when he was four years old. (In addition to being one of the world’s top cycling racers at the time, John Tomac was also an ardent motorcycle rider.) Eli competed motocross for five years, from 1999 to 2003, before winning his first title in 2004, when he was eleven years old.
We questioned “Johnny T” when he realised Eli was becoming into an excellent motocross rider. John informed us he realised this when Eli was around eight or nine years old.
Eli has proven to be one of the best motocross and Supercross riders in history. He has 52 AMA 450 Supercross wins and 32 AMA 450 Motocross victories. He has eight AMA titles, split between motocross and supercross in the 250cc and 450cc classifications.
As previously stated, Eli turned 32 yesterday, on November 14th, 2024. Happy birthday, Eli!