Under the UCI BMX era, Brighton hosted the first official BMX World Championship in 1996.
The UCI BMX World Championships’ modern UCI-era sequence began in Brighton, United Kingdom, in 1996. That inaugural edition followed earlier world championships organised under predecessor BMX and cycling bodies, so it is important to distinguish the UCI-era starting point from the broader history of BMX world competition. British rider Dale Holmes won the first UCI elite men's title, while Australia's Natarsha Williams won the elite women's championship.
Brighton is often mixed up with other early hosts because the next editions quickly moved internationally: Saskatoon hosted in 1997, Melbourne in 1998, and Vallet in France in 1999. The event has since travelled across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania.
The 1996 championship included elite and junior racing, as well as cruiser categories. That structure differs from later editions, whose event programmes changed as BMX racing developed and gained Olympic status.