Rebecca Koerner's extraordinary transition: From national diving champion to world-class road cyclist

Few people have what it takes to become national champion in just one discipline.

Rebecca Koerner has already accomplished this at the age 22, excelling in two completely different fields. In 2018, she claimed her last diving national title, and just five years later, she secured the Danish cycling road race championships.

“It's a good reminder that you should go for what you think is fun, and what you have a drive for,” Rebecca Koerner told Olympics.com.

After becoming Danish champion, the 22-year-old has gained a lot of self-confidence and belief that she can achieve bigger goals in cycling.

Having catapulted herself onto the cycling stage, the Uno-X rider is now preparing to compete in her third consecutive World Championships on the road for Denmark.

Diving, the perfect sport for a relentless kid

Growing up in Herlev, Denmark, Rebecca Koerner was a child who could not sit still. “I was a little girl full of beans, you could say,” Koerner explained. Her parents tried to enroll her in various sports so their daughter could expend some of all her seemingly endless energy. At the age of eight, Koerner finally found the perfect match at the end of a children’s swimming lesson.

“I didn't really want to swim, so I just kept jumping in the pool from the edge and made a lot of trouble. Then the swimming coach said that it could be an idea to start diving. My mum was like, ‘well, whatever we can do to get rid of some of all that energy.’ And then I started to dive,” Koerner said.

Over the following decade, the young Dane experienced great success, winning 22 national diving championships across different heights, three of them in the elite category. Diving from the 10m platform was her favourite height, and the results in the sport sparked a dream in the young diver.

“Ever since I was little, it has been the big goal to get to the Olympics. After all, it is the biggest thing you can achieve.”

However, her dream of reaching the Olympics suffered a heavy blow due to an injury.

“I had to do a jump from the 3-metre springboard, where I landed arching my back, so the water squeezed me together. That made me sprain all the ligaments in my lower back. I couldn't put my own socks on, and I almost couldn't walk for a month and a half because of the pain,” Koerner explained.

Cycling was one of the few activities that Koerner was allowed to do by her physio during the four-month rehabilitation process. So she borrowed her mother’s city bike and started cycling around the neighbourhood. The trips gradually got longer and longer, and Koerner started enjoying it.

When the rehabilitation was over, she got back into diving, but something was different.

“I was on the springboards, and could do the things I could before, but I didn't think it was as much fun anymore,” the Dane admitted.

A new sporting passion

At 18, Koerner decided to quit diving. In the meantime, she had started dating a cyclist in high school, Marcus Sander, who today, just like Koerner, rides professionally for the Norwegian Uno-X team.

Both attended Falkonergården High School on a special Team Denmark-supported course, where young athletes get the opportunity to balance school with their training and sporting competitions.

From Koerner’s year group in school, there were also cyclists Mattias Skjelmose, who rides professionally for Lidl-Trek, and Johan Price-Pejtersen of Bahrain-Victorious, besides her now fiancé, Sander.

“I went to watch Marcus' cycling races almost every weekend, when I didn’t have to train myself. I found it super exciting, I remember always looking forward to getting out and watching cycling,” Koerner explained.

In the beginning, the now former diver was not so keen on admitting that she really started to like the sport. Nevertheless, she bought a road bike and began to ride with her boyfriend when he went for an easy spin on his rest days. One thing led to another, and the young Dane suddenly had discovered a new sporting passion.

“It really came naturally to me when I started cycling. I've always been a bit of a ‘wild girl’, so I like the speed, the competition and wanting to get better and go faster. So, all the things that cycling entails appeal to my character. Then I found out that I was actually pretty good at it too, and things have gone fast since” Koerner remembers.

Becoming pro

Just one year after quitting diving, Koerner started competing in bike races in 2020. The season was cut short due to the COVID pandemic, but she still managed to win her first race.

In 2021, Koerner continued her winning trajectory, and she almost upset the favourites at the Danish Championships when she attacked solo in the final kilometres of the race. Eventually, she was caught and finished fifth, but she brought some attention to her name.

Prior to the nationals, Koerner had reached out to former pro Lars Bak, who had been appointed as the general manager for the new Uno-X women’s team that would start racing in 2022.

Bak was impressed by the newcomer's performance at the Danish championships, and the former Giro d'Italia stage winner became convinced to offer Koerner a contract to race for the team after she won the stage race Randers Bike Week in Denmark a couple of months after the nationals.

“You would argue that it was a bit of a longshot for them to hire a rookie like me to the highest level, and It wasn't something I had expected at all,” Koerner explained and added that the transition to becoming pro has been difficult after such a short time within the sport.

“It's been bloody tough. It has been a huge challenge. I didn't really know, what I was getting myself into. You need to have sharp elbows to be able to keep up. After all, there is still a big gap that I have to close. But I can see that I develop, so I believe that I will also become a cyclist who can win big races at some point. I just have to work for it to become reality.”

Inspired by Primoz Roglic

Meanwhile, the dream of winning big races continues as the Uno-X rider already clinched one major win in June. After getting into the early breakaway at the Danish road race championships, Koerner dropped her breakaway companions more than 30 kilometres from the finish to ultimately cross the finish line solo.

“It was the craziest day. Everything went exactly according to the plan. It was just an insanely good experience and probably something I will remember for the rest of my life. Now I can ride in the national champion’s jersey for a whole year. It's just a huge honour," she said.

“It has given me some self-confidence that I am good enough and that I am on the right track. It has changed so much in my head. I believe I can become the best cyclist if I work insanely hard for it and make the choices and the sacrifices that are needed.”

One rider that inspires Koerner to keep working hard, is four-time Grand Tour winner and Olympic time trial champion, Primoz Roglic, who - like Koerner - started cycling late in his teenage years. The Slovenian switched from ski jumping to cycling, and he has proved that despite joining the sport late, you can achieve big results. “It is something that inspires me so much,” Koerner added.

The Olympic dream continues in a new sport

Next up for the Danish road race champion is the World Championships in Glasgow. The Danes do not have any of the top favourites for the event, but they are coming into the race with big ambitions.

“My personal goal is to help the captain. I believe that if we ride a good bike race as a team, and if we ride well tactically, then we can leave Glasgow with a medal,” says an optimistic Koerner.

In Paris next year awaits an even bigger goal for the former diver, who as a child dreamt about competing at the Games. The Olympic dream still lives on, but now it is in cycling, where she hopes to be selected by the Danish national team coach, Tayeb Braikia.

“It is still my childhood dream to come to the Olympics and show off the Danish colours. But I also have to take a step up and ride even better bike races to prove that I should be there. But I believe that it is possible and that I will be able to do a super good job.”

The women’s road race in Paris next year takes place on 4 August over a 158 km route.