She is only 23 - and already one of the Swiss hopefuls at the Olympic Games for the second time: Zoé Claessens embodies world class in BMX.
17.07.2024, 05:30
17.07.2024, 10:00
SDA
As the reigning European champion and former World Championship silver medalist in the junior category, Claessens was already one of the medal candidates in BMX racing in Tokyo in 2021. However, a crash in the semi-finals ruined her chances. In the end, she finished in a sobering 14th place.
Three years later, Claessens is back in the starting blocks, and even if there is a big favorite in Australian Saya Sakakibara, the omens for Olympic success are better. The Romande, who grew up with six siblings in a BMX-loving family, has now won four World Cups. She finished second overall in the 2022 World Cup and is currently fifth, despite missing two of the six races so far this season. She triumphed twice in 24 hours at the World Cup in Brisbane in February.
Experience and self-confidence
"I was able to take a lot away from Tokyo. The experience from back then helps, and I'm now used to dealing with pressure," says Claessens today. And: "The successes that have come since then give me self-confidence." These successes include two World Championship silver medals and her second European Championship title a year ago.
Zoé Claessens is not a woman of big words. Instead, she lets the results speak for themselves, pursuing her path quietly and all the more determinedly. After a (training) year in the southern French BMX hotspot of Sarrians, Claessens is now back training in Aigle, close to her home and family, at the World Cycling Federation's Centre Mondial du Cyclisme, where there are plenty of other riders and lots of know-how.
Coach and fan
Claessens' talent was evident early on and did not go unnoticed by British BMX luminary Liam Phillips. "I've been a big fan of hers since the first time I saw her in training," says the 35-year-old former world champion, who is now not only Claessens' role model and inspiration for her back number, 65, but also her coach. Tyrone Johns, coach at the World Cycling Center Aigle, also thinks highly of Claessens: "She's one of the best in the world. She is very good at the start, she has good technique. That makes a lot of things easier."
The fact that Claessens was doomed in Tokyo by a bad start of all things does not fit into the picture. Time to set the record straight in Paris.
