Olympic BMX racing champion Beth Shriever: My different pathway to Paris 2024
Will contrasting Olympic-cycle experiences lead to the same result for the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist?Olympics.com spoke exclusively with the British rider ahead of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, which are set to take place in Glasgow from 3-13 August.
Beth Shriever screamed and cheered on seeing compatriot Kye Whyte claim Olympic silver in BMX racing at Tokyo 2020. The Brit couldn't believe that her friend of nearly a decade, had just achieved a dream they'd both held since they were kids, and she was beyond thrilled for her buddy.
Trouble is, Shriever was up next.
Waiting behind the scenes at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo for the final of the women's edition, it was just minutes later that it was Shriever's turn to go all out for an Olympic medal.
Up against seven other finalists, including legendary Mariana Pajon of Colombia who was eyeing a third consecutive Olympic title, Shriever had to calm herself before getting ready for the biggest race of her life.
"There was one little TV screen at the bottom of the track, where you could see the racing," Shriever told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview ahead of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships taking place in Glasgow from 3-13 August. "I was one of the only ones there at the screen, and I was shouting, I was screaming, and Kye got second and a wave of emotion comes over me and I was like, 'oh my God, I'm gonna cry, I'm gonna cry'. And I was like, no, no."
After being called to the start line of the course that comprised a 400m-long undulating track with steeped banked corners that would take the riders around 45 seconds to complete, Shriever took a deep breath and refocused.
"I was still really relaxed but I literally had to forget about (Kye's result) for a minute and I was like, 'okay, do my thing'. I'd practised that scenario (a reaction to the men's event, which took place ahead of the women's final) a few times in my psychology, just in case, because that can have an effect on you mentally.
"I felt like, 'right now, I've got to do this'. I was just so clear minded, and I was like, right, 'let's just go up, do what I've been doing all day and see what happens.' And then, yeah, obviously I had a really great lap."
It took everything Shriever had to beat Pajon, crossing the finish line just 0.09 seconds ahead of the South American, who claimed silver. Netherlands' Merel Smulders won bronze.
Before Shriever could even begin to celebrate, though, her legs buckled beneath her, but before she hit the floor, an ecstatic Whyte scooped her up in what was to become one of the iconic images of the Japan Games – Whyte carrying Shriever, both faces upturned to the sky, screaming with joy.
Yet the pathway to Tokyo was a tricky one to navigate for Shriever, particularly financially after the then teenager had to fund her own qualification campaign after UK Sport cut its support for her event following Rio 2016. Family support, a crowdfunding campaign and part-time work as a teaching assistant enabled the Brit to squeak into the Tokyo 2020 Games and the ultimate comeback.
However, the road to Paris looks very different for the now 24-year-old, including being fully funded, and the World Championship provides the first opportunity for riders, including Shriever and Whyte, to stake a claim for a place at Paris 2024.
A quota spot will be secured for a National Olympic Committee courtesy of the winners of the women's and men's events in Glasgow come the final on Sunday 13 August.
Shriever talked to Olympics.com about her comparative Olympic experiences so far, a year out from Paris 2024.
Funding – pre Tokyo 2020 v pre Paris 2024
"I had to get to these big events all around the world to qualify and I wasn't on the programme because there wasn't a programme for women in BMX. So, I was living at home, working part time (as a teaching assistant) and then it basically just got to the stage where it was like, if you really wanna do this and have the best chance I've got to go to these races, I've got to pay for a good coach," Shriever told Olympics.com.
"So we set up the crowdfunding page and we did get enough to pay for a coach at the time, travelled to Australia for three or four weeks, and got me to other events to get points (needed to qualify for the 2020 Games). They weren't the best points because I wasn't doing that great, but they were points nonetheless, and it was enough to get me to Tokyo.
"So, yeah, it was stressful at the time. I'm very grateful and lucky that, UK Sport and the National Lottery picked me up, saw my potential and allowed me to get funded on the British Cycling programme," said Shriever of the impact of Stephen Park, British Cycling's performance director, who persuaded UK Sport to move Shriever back onto the programme in 2019.
"So this time, I've been on the programme now for four or five years, getting all the amazing support, the facilities around me from British Cycling.
"I feel like if you wanna achieve what you wanna achieve fully, you've got to be doing it full time, you've got to be obsessed with your sport and it's your passion. So, I'm very lucky that I get to do this day in day out and put all my effort into it. I feel like I've just gone up a level each year and get stronger and faster. So, yeah, it's exciting."
World ranking – pre Tokyo 2020 v pre Paris 2024
"Leading into Tokyo, I think my best position I got was fifth at a World Cup," said Shriever of her highest results in the lead-up to her debut Games. "Even before that, before getting fifth, my best was 14th. So, yeah, position wise in elite women, I hadn't really made my mark.
"Whereas this year, I've won three out of the four World Cups and I'm the current World Cup leader, which has never happened before. So, I'm really happy about that."
Support of family and friends – Tokyo 2020 v Paris 2024
Due to COVID restrictions, no spectators were allowed at Tokyo 2020, so loved ones watched from home. Yet Shriever had a unique insight into the reaction of her boyfriend Bryn Savage and family after they filmed themselves watching the final in the early hours of the UK morning.
"I didn't even know they were doing that," smiled Shriever. "I think a news reporter told them to do that. So I was lucky that I did actually get to see that.
"I think it was the day after, everything settled and I was just sitting on my hotel bed ready to go home and I watched it and I was just bawling, I was crying. It was just so overwhelming to see all my loved ones there and getting emotional and just being so happy for me and it was kind of unexpected. Just yeah, it topped it off, it meant a lot... you realise what it really meant to everyone."
Paris 2024 will be a different story, with fans back in the stadiums to roar on the athletes, in a camaraderie-laden feel-good festival of sport.
"Doing it in front of your friends and family, especially when they're there, that just means a lot. I've only done it a few times where I've raced and done well and my whole family has been there, so it'll be extra special if they are there and it does go well, for sure. So it's exciting and something to look forward to, definitely."
Pressure – Tokyo 2020 v Paris 2024
If she qualifies, Shriever will be going into Paris with a very different vibe to that of Tokyo, when she was an outsider for a medal with previous best World Championship results 11th and 15th in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Just a few weeks after the drama of becoming Olympic champion, Shriever also snagged her first World Championship crown to cap a sensational 2021. She'll be hoping to recapture her world title in Glasgow after USA's Felicia Stancil won the 2022 edition.
At Paris 2024, however, Shriever will have a target on her back as not only the defending champion but, if she continues on her current World Cup trajectory, the form athlete. So how does she feel about that, one year out?
"At the moment, I'm more excited about it all, as, like I said earlier, it'll be a whole new experience. I feel like (Paris) is such a cool place, I've been there a few times, so I'm just excited for the atmosphere. The French, they do it properly out there, so I'm more excited.
"I know nearer the time I'll definitely be feeling the nerves, or the pressure, if you like. But yeah, I'm gonna be practising and preparing loads for that.
"And even the World Championships (in Glasgow), that's gonna help prepare me, I think, for Paris because it's obviously a home worlds, my friends and family and Bryn's gonna be there, so it's kind of preparing me for that. Going into Paris, hopefully I'll be the most prepared I've been, and we'll see what happens."