Red Deer’s Molly Simpson has had herself a summer to remember.
Just months after winning a gold medal at the BMX Racing World Cup, Simpson claimed a bronze medal in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) BMX Racing World Championships where she represented Canada.
The 19-year-old placed third in the women’s under-23 BMX race final in Nantes, France with a time of 33.598, which was just milliseconds behind the silver medalist Nadine Aeberhard.
“It was a blast and I had a lot of fun and the atmosphere was really amazing so it was a very cool event and to podium was awesome,” Simpson said.
The world championships, which took place July 26-31, have the best competitors in the sport all in one place for an event that only comes around once a year. The medal finish means a lot to Simpson because she has never made the final at a world championship in her nine-year career.
“I finally made one and it was just super awesome to get on the podium in my first world final,” she said.
Simpson added she made history during the event because this was the first year the UCI held under-23 class in BMX racing. She became one of eight females to make the final for the first time and one of three to medal at this event.
She also gave the fans in France some credit saying it was one of the loudest events she’s competed in.
“I’ve never ridden on a track where it was just so loud it was amazing, it was electric almost,” she said.
Simpson got the opportunity to compete for her country in this event after the coach of the national team selected her as one of two athletes to race in the under-23 division. Up next for the Canadian team and Simpson is a trip to Colombia in September for two more UCI BMX Racing World Cups, which will be the final two world cups of the season.
“I’m excited to head over there and finish the season off,” Simpson added.
Simpson achieved her season goal of winning a medal in an under-23 event at the world championships but is now time for her to move up to the elite women’s division, which is the more experienced racers. Simpson will get that challenge in the upcoming world cups after the coaching staff told her it was time for her to make that next step.
“I did it all last year since there was no under-23 class and then this year we gave it a try and it kind of helped me prepare myself mentally and now I just feel more confident going into elite,” she said.