BMX: Sensational Shriever set on becoming the greatest
The BMX racing Olympic champ from Great Britain will launch her 2022 World Cup campaign this weekend in Glasgow with the event available to watch on Olympics.com live
Cycling BMX Racing
Can anyone stop BMX racer Bethany Shriever?
It's a question her competitors are looking to answer, not least because the gold medallist from Tokyo 2020 in 2021 has made her aim to become the greatest quite clear:
"I would want to be able to say that I was the best ever female BMX athlete and that's quite a big statement to have," the 23-year-old Briton told Reuters on her goals going forwards.
“The only way I can do that is probably getting three (Olympic) golds, winning a few World Cups and loads of World Championships.
"It's a big goal to set and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, but it's something to aim towards and I just want to enjoy the journey.”
Shriever's hot streak first started at last summer’s Games in Tokyo when she pulled-off a shock victory over two-time gold medallist and defending champion Mariana Pajon to take the gold medal.
In a lasting moment sure to be remembered for generations to come, Shriever let out a scream of ecstasy and agony before being scooped up in the arms of Team GB compatriot and fellow BMX silver medallist Kye Whyte, lauding her achievement.
Just a couple of weeks later, Shriever, who many had not even heard of at the beginning of 2021, clinched the World Championship to become the first woman ever to hold the two titles at the same time in the history of the sport.
Throw in two recent European Cup wins to her name in the build-up to the BMX Racing World Cup series (formerly known as BMX Supercross) beginning this weekend in Glasgow and live streamed on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com, it's little wonder why the Great Britain star is setting her sights so high.
GB's Shriever: the fight for the Olympic dream
Shriever’s ambition, though large in its scope, is not to be underestimated.
It is, after all, that drive that got the British star to the start-line in Tokyo even when the odds were stacked against her.
In 2017, UK Sport made the decision it would only be funding male riders for the Tokyo 2020 cycle, leaving Shriever without any backing.
Though heartbroken, Shriever remained resolute on continuing her journey in BMX riding. The racer left the national set-up and took up a part time job in a school as a teaching assistant alongside her training to try to make ends meet. It was then rider realised the realities of trying be a winning athlete and live a normal life.
After an attempt to crowdfund £50,000 in 2019, help eventually arrived when Stephen Park, British Cycling’s performance director, clocked Shriever's talent.
Park insisted that UK Sport re-allocate funding towards the Essex-born rider as well move her up to Manchester so that she could re-join the national programme and benefit from their resources.
It was a decision that ultimately paid off when Shriever delivered gold for Team GB and it was a victory made sweeter by the obstacles that had threatened to prevent it from ever happening.
Beth Shriever: success round every berm
Nine months on from her breakthrough into the world’s sporting consciousness and things certainly look a little different for Shriever.
In addition to being noticed more when out on the streets, the accolades continue to pour in.
At the start of April, the world champion was in the Kent, in the south of England, to visit the newly named ‘The Bethany Shriever BMX Track’. The decision to rename the venue - formerly Cyclopark - came as a nod to Shriever’s remarkable string of successes and the trail she has blazed behind her.
Not long after, her name was once more being honoured but on a much bigger stage.
The British history-maker was announced as the 2022 Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year, pipping the likes of Carissa Moore and Horigome Yuto to the gong.
When presented the award by British cycling great Chris Hoy, the rider admitted to not immediately knowing the prestige attached to the Laureus name: “I didn’t realise how massive it was until I watched videos of the gala,” she confessed.
While Shriever’s stock prices might have soared, she insists she is the same person she was before her new-found fame:
“I’m still enjoying every second of being a full-time athlete, going to all these amazing races and travelling the world,” said the Olympic gold medallist to British Cycling.
“Nothing has really changed for me. I just get to go to these crazy red-carpet events and just get all these amazing opportunities."
Something else Shriever has noticed since her remarkable conquests last summer is an uptick in the number of women and girls interested in her sport.
And she is all too ready to capitalise on their attention.
“It’s obviously a male dominated sport, so to see the influx of girls coming through is absolute amazing,” the BMX racer continued to British Cycling. “It’s what we need. We need more girls getting involved and hopefully in the future getting more medals.
“Hopefully now I can be a role model for the future and inspire more people to get involved.”
Beth Shriever: How to watch the Olympic champion at the UCI BMX Racing World Cup series in 2022
Shriever will have the chance to convert her ambitions into reality when the UCI BMX Racing World Cup season gets underway with rounds one and two this weekend (28 May – 29 May) in Glasgow.
You can watch the Tokyo 2020 champion take on the rest the world live on Olympics.com (territorial restrictions may apply) or you can catch the action on the @Olympics YouTube platform.