After taking a World motocross championship at a young age, Grant Langston came to the United States with everyone watching and expecting him to earn multiple Outdoor motocross championships. He came close to the 125 Outdoor title in 2001, when a broken wheel at the final race ended a gutsy run at the title — much of it while suffering with a shoulder injury. 2002 and 2003 (so far) have been riddled with bad luck and injuries, but Langston will be ready for the opening round of the AMA 250 motocross championship in May. Like other riders in this class, he must contend with Ricky Carmichael (arguably, the greatest outdoor motocross rider ever) and a red hot Chad Reed (winner of the last four AMA 250 supercross events).
Grant’s father Gerald travels with him, and, until recently, posted frequent updates on Grant’s condition. After re-injuring a knee earlier this year in supercross, the Gerald Langston posts have been missing, and the Langston camp has been silent. Not much to say about Grant of late, I suppose, but this might also indicate Langston doesn’t want the added pressure of discussing the state of his injury and rehabilitation on the Internet every week or two.
If Langston is truly healthy and ready, he will quickly remind people why he was expected to eclipse fellow South African Greg Albertyn’s record of just a single motocross championship in the United States.
