sport news OLYMPICS SPOTLIGHT: 2020 Bronze medalist Nikita Ducarroz reveals how BMX saved ... trends now
The Olympics are now just 16 weeks away, and Mail Sport is looking ahead to the Paris Games with a series of interviews, flashbacks and deep dives.
To be an Olympian, your sport has to be a consuming part of your life but for Nikita Ducarroz, BMX is not just a competition, it's ‘everything.’
Ducarroz, the bronze medalist in BMX Freestyle at the Tokyo Games, doesn’t hold back when it comes to talking about the importance of BMX in her life.
As a teenager crippled by anxiety, the Swiss-American rider couldn’t go outside. Confined to the walls of her house, unable to face going to school and forced to quit soccer, BMX offered her a lifeline. With a bike, Ducarroz pedaled her way to freedom.
The 27-year-old openly credits the sport for dragging her out of the darkest moments of her life and all the way to the Olympic stage.
‘It was definitely an escape at the time,’ Ducarroz tells Mail Sport in Red Bull's New York offices.
2020 Olympic Bronze medalist Nikita Ducarroz claims BMX is 'everything' to her
The athlete doesn’t hold back when it comes to talking about the importance of BMX in her life
The 27-year-old credits the sport for dragging her out of her dark moments to the Olympics
‘It's the only reason I've been able to leave my house. I worked on leaving my house because I wanted to ride the skatepark. And then I wanted to ride the skatepark further away. And then I wanted to get on a plane to go to a competition.
‘It was always that I wanted to try it so badly that I was able to justify the panic and fear I was going to feel getting there. I used my bike to bribe my fear to do these things. And I still do it today. It's ongoing. To me, riding is everything.’
In BMX Ducarroz found a passion that overcomes fear - a fear that began when she was just 11.
Growing up in California, she had played soccer as a young teenager until around the age of 13, when her anxiety and panic rendered her housebound, forcing her to quit, she reveals. No longer able to compete on the soccer field, her mom urged her to take up another sport to stay active.
With a bike already in her possession, mountain biking seemed like the logical choice until the thrill of BMX proved to be too much of a temptation.
‘I had a bike and I told her I was going to ride mountain bikes, because we had a lot of hills nearby,’ the Red Bull athlete explains.
‘That was kind of just my way of saying she'll see that I'm doing something active, but I don't have a team relying on me. I don't have to be there at a specific time. I can just do it when I want.
‘Then, through YouTube, I was watching more bike videos and I discovered BMX. I just started riding in the driveway and then I wanted to try the skatepark and it just went from there.
The rider sat down with Mail Sport at the Red Bull offices in New York City
Ducarroz is pictured with Silver medalist Hannah Roberts of Team United States (left) and Gold medalist Charlotte Worthington (center) during the Tokyo Games
‘Initially, it just looked really cool. Once I tried it, it was a constant drive. You can always keep learning things. I get bored very easily but it was never dull. There's always a new trick you can learn, there's always something you can improve on. It's just constantly changing and I think that was good for my brain.’
Ducarroz has worked with psychologists to equip her with tools such as meditations, visualization and breathing techniques but BMX is still the best form of therapy.
‘BMX has taught me so much about not quitting,’ she insists. ‘You have to try tricks so many times over and over again. It’s not something that you can try with no risk involved. Every single attempt, you risk crashing. You’re like, “This one's gonna hurt but I have to do it anyway.”
‘And I've been able to carry that over into when I'm anxious, knowing this isn't going to be fun, but I have to do it to get to the other end. I feel like BMX and my anxiety have both taught me different things that apply to each other.’
Ducarroz is not defined by her mental health - not if her Olympic Bronze and two World Championship Silvers are anything to go by - but she does believe she can help others cope by speaking out.
She was in eighth grade when she first opened up about her own battle with mental health, posting a video to YouTube as part of a school project. She says the overwhelming response was so ‘eye-opening’ that it spurred her on.
‘If Athletes, when they're on a bigger stage, can make it more normal to talk about mental health, it can have a big impact,’ she insists.
‘I feel like it has been more so since Tokyo especially. Having sports psychologists and support more readily
