in brief: caroline buchanan wins bmx gold
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Canberra’s Caroline Buchanan became Australia’s latest BMX champion over the weekend, winning gold at the UCI world titles in Auckland.
The 22-year-old beat fellow Australian Lauren Reynolds by 1.296sec to claim the medal. The title is her first in BMX racing, though she holds two in mountain biking.
The win marks a new beginning for Buchanan, who described her performance at the 2012 Olympics as ‘rock bottom’. She entered the Olympic event as number one ranked female BMX rider, but finished the race in fifth position.
‘I wasn’t 100 per cent over what happened at the Olympic Games until now. I had first lane choice at London.
‘I took lane three and blew it. I made sure I didn’t make the same mistake again and went for lane one this time around,’ she said.
‘When it comes to finals you’ve got to release the mongrel and get aggressive.’
Buchanan appeared relaxed and confident at the start of the race. She told The Canberra Times: ‘I wasn’t going to go into the world championship final and do what I did in London. I had a smile on my face when I was in the gate.
‘You definitely have to hit rock bottom to turn things around and open your eyes to different levels you can pull from within yourself.
‘That’s what I noticed today. I was able to harness a lot of inner-strength and pull on what happened in London.’
