'I lost motivation after not making Olympics'

BMX rider Sasha Pardoe said winning the European Championships reignited her passion for competition [PA Media] A championship-winning BMX rider has said she almost lost her hunger for competing after she was not selected for the Olympics. Sasha Pardoe won gold at the European Freestyle Championships in Switzerland in 2024, taking the women's title with a score of 88. 06 on her second run.

It came shortly after the 20-year-old from Kinver, Staffordshire, failed to be selected for Team GB ahead of the 2024 Paris Games. She told BBC Midlands Today that while she would never fall out of love with BMX itself, not being selected for the team had affected her love for competition. Despite this, Pardoe said she started working towards the European Championships, which she "somehow" won, describing it as an "amazing" experience.

"It definitely brought back my love for competing," she said. "I'll never lose my love for BMX in general. I just hadn't been as motivated.

" Pardoe was due to compete at the 2025 World Championships in Saudi Arabia in November but minutes before qualifying, she fractured her shoulder blade when she fell during practice. She then suffered the same injury when she returned to action, which meant she had been unable to compete until the National BMX Freestyle Series at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire at the weekend, where she finished second. Sasha Pardoe said she still wanted to compete in the Olympics but it was "not the be-all and end-all" [BBC] The BMX park was built at the site's Hanger 59 before the Paris Olympics and Pardoe said it was good to have somewhere she could practice close to where she lived.