Essex teenage BMX rider celebrates world championship win

A young BMX biker has been crowned the 16-year-old girls’ world champion at the UCI BMX World Championships in the US.

Freia Challis from Braintree Bullets BMX Club in Essex will compete in the European Championships in a couple of weeks.

The club had 11 riders take part in the event held in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and had three become finalists. The competition attracted nearly 3,000 riders from more than 40 countries.

Julian Allen, the club’s lead coach, said: “I was privileged to have spent the race days with them and saw the true warriors they are to take to the world stage in some difficult conditions.”

Sixteen-year-old Freia from Halstead, Essex, was crowned as champion for a fourth time. She will progress to the Junior Elite category in 2025.

Speaking after the race, Freia said: “I gave it my all in every lap, knowing the UCI could call the results on the heat races and I couldn’t be happier to take the title.

“It’s not the way I would have planned the race day as I would have loved to have shown it all in the final, but that’s racing, and I’ll take it.”

The teenager is headed to the European Championships, where she will be joined by 11-year-old Poppy Bishop, a fellow club member, who finished in sixth place.

Poppy’s younger sister Holly, nine, was the youngest member of the club to make it into the final and claimed the title of world number seven.

Mr Allen said: “The girls are amazing and should be super proud of their efforts. I was privileged to have spent the race days with them and saw the true warriors they are to take to the world stage in some difficult conditions.”

He said the weather conditions the riders experienced of torrential rain, heat and an electrical storm were “curveballs”.

Speaking of 16-year-old Freia, he said she was “all business from the moment she arrived”.

“Her lap times were comparable to the Junior Elites and I’m looking forward to seeing what she can achieve as she moves into the championship classes next year,” he added.