Nikita Ducarroz (born 12 August 1996 in

Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

) is a Swiss

Freestyle BMX Freestyle BMX is bicycle motocross stunt riding on BMX bikes. It is an extreme sport descended from BMX racing that consists of five disciplines: street, park, vert, trails, and flatland. In June 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced t ...

Olympic bronze medalist. In 2019 she also finished fifth at the

UCI Urban Cycling World Championships The UCI Urban Cycling World Championships are the world championship events for freestyle BMX, cross-country eliminator, and Mountain bike trials, trials. They are organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI ...

, fourth at the UCI Freestyle BMX World Cup and then won the 2020 BMX Simple Session in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Ducarroz was in lockdown at the

Daniel Dhers Daniel Dhers (born March 25, 1985, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan professional BMX rider. He is currently sponsored by Red Bull, POC, DC Shoes, Specialized, Albe's Mailorder, Sony and Verizon. Dhers lived in Greenville, North Carolina ...

Action Sports Complex training facility in

Holly Springs, North Carolina Holly Springs is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 41,239, a 67% increase from 2010. History Etymology The town's name refers to the free flowing springs that emerge into a ...

. She won the silver medal at the

2021 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships The 2021 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships was the fourth edition of the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, and was held from 4 to 8 June 2021 in Montpellier, France. The 2021 championships comprised events in freestyle BMX only. Previou ...

in the

, and again in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Early life

Born in

to a Swiss French father and an American mother of Chaldean and Sicilian descent, she grew up in

Glen Ellen, California Glen Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Par ...

. At the age of 11, she began suffering from crippling

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

which forced her to quit playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and attend online school. Her mother wanted her to pursue another sport. Through

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, Ducarroz found BMX.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duccaroz, Nikita 1996 births Living people BMX riders Swiss female cyclists Sportspeople from Nice Swiss people of American descent Swiss people of Italian descent Swiss people of Iraqi descent Olympic cyclists for Switzerland Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in cycling European Games competitors for Switzerland Cyclists at the 2023 European Games 21st-century Swiss women