Bethany Shriever added another feather to her cap after winning gold at the Olympic Games. Just a few weeks after her win at the 2021 Tokyo Games, Bethany, the BMX racer, won the world championship title. The event had taken place in Papendal, Netherlands on Sunday.
Everyone was pinning their hopes on Alise Willoughby to retain her world championship title but unfortunately, luck was not by her side that day as she crashed into America’s Felicia Stancil and Swiss rider Zoe Claessens.
Bethany started her race from lane eight and a few moments later she was racing ahead to the finish line leaving behind her a three-rider crash.
After her Olympic win, the rider was relaxed and not worried about winning.
“I’ve been riding consistently and I just wanted to go out there and have a good time, as I did in Tokyo. I went to gate eight, I was relaxed and happy. I had an alright start and just managed to dig in and take the win…Another gold medal — I can’t believe it.”
She became Britain’s golden girl after her surprise win at the Women’s BMX racing event in Tokyo after taking over Columbia’s Mariana Pajon. No one had expected her to win or even make it to the finals.
After her win, her struggles to continue racing came to light when she spoke about how she was always outnumbered by the boys in all the racing or cycling events that she partakes in.
“I would just be training with the boys pretty much.”
Bethany had her fair share of financial ups and downs too. In 2017, she created a GoFundMe page. Had it not been for the people who supported her then, Britain would not have her first Olympic gold in BMX racing.
When she asked about how whether she would have made it to Tokyo without the funding, she said, “The chances would be very, very slim.”
Both Judy Baauw and Laura Smulders made it to the podium, winning silver and bronze respectively.
