Charlotte Worthington: “We are no longer a bunch of kids cycling in the park”

I’ve already done my first training for the weekend competition and I have a good feeling. This is my first time here and it’s been great so far. The weather was quite hot, but I had a comfortable temperature on the first ride.

What do you expect from this appointment?

I try to never have expectations because in the end, it’s not just up to you. It doesn’t matter how prepared you are for a competition because you can’t control the outcome. My goal is to do the best I know how and enjoy it to regain my confidence to compete.

Are you approaching the Paris Games with the same mentality?

Definitely. The goal is the same: Do what you do best. Without expectations, because that’s the only way good results come when you don’t take them for granted.

Did you think like this when you started this sport?

I actually came to BMX quite late and did it because I needed a change of scenery. It wasn’t my profession at that time, I was working in a restaurant. I started when I was 19. I used to skate on a scooter and was very good at it.

So why did it change?

I needed a challenge to feel like I was making progress. Motivate me again to learn something. Some new incentives. He had already won everything there was to win on the scooter and felt no progress. I had some colleagues in my group who did BMX and I thought why not? In just one year of BMX, I entered a television competition and many doors were opened for me. Shortly after, the cycling team, which was already preparing for the Tokyo 2020 event, contacted me to trust me and that’s where my competitive career began.

The transition from scooter to BMX was quite natural for you.

As strange as it sounds, scootering is very similar to BMX, which has allowed me to transfer a lot of experience, tips and wisdom from one sport to another. I caught on pretty quickly. I can say that it emerged on its own.

Do you still skate?

Not much. I remember some tricks but I’ve lost a lot of practice.

How has Olympic recognition affected BMX?

It had a huge impact. Very positive. ‘Riders’ are now considered professional athletes. They train just as hard as any other athlete. With the support of cycling federations, the popularity of the sport and its athletes has increased greatly. In addition, young people now have more opportunities, more competitions are organized and access to this sport is becoming more widespread. The Olympics also helped a lot in creating opportunities for women. It gives a new life to many people and continues to increase as well as being accepted by society. We are no longer seen as a group of kids riding bikes in the park.

So what are these now?

There will always be people on bikes in the park, but now there are professional athletes too. I live with my whole team, we ride bikes every day, go to the gym, prepare for competitions, but we will never forget that this whole dream started with bikes and a few colleagues in a park.

What is it like to be a woman in a sport that is still heavily masculinized?

The same thing happened to me with scooters. I was the only girl in the entire skate park, and at some competitions there were only two or three of us. Unfortunately it’s still not that different, but it’s becoming more and more common to see girls, and especially little girls, doing BMX. They are the future of this sport and they are getting more and more female references, inspiring them and feeling like they are not just ‘guy things’. At the competitive level, since I started in 2018, I can assure you that the presence of women has doubled and this has only been possible thanks to professionalisation.

How did you plan your professional future when you started competing?

I wanted to be a photographer. I actually studied photography and communications at university. In the meantime, I worked as a ‘dishwasher’ in a restaurant and then took a position in the kitchen. I was great at it, but when the competitions started going well I decided to take a step forward because the job wasn’t leaving me time to train and I was too tired to really put any effort into BMX.

Now one of these first Olympic medalists from his sport. How did it affect you?

It was great. It has given me absolutely incredible opportunities and I have collaborated with sponsors and huge brands like Adidas. Olympic athletes are treated very well in the UK. I feel truly grateful and lucky for everything that has happened to me, but the pace has been so fast in the last two years. I barely get any rest and it’s hurting him.

Physically?

Yes, we haven’t stopped since Tokyo. I suffered greatly on a physical level. Lots of injuries. I had four shoulder injuries in a few months and many more were minor injuries. One after another. My goal now is to learn to brake a little and enjoy the experience more.