Petra Henzi (born 14 October 1969) is a retired Swiss professional mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Swiss national championship titles, and more importantly, a total of four prestigious medals (one gold, one silver, and two bronze) in women's cross-country race at the

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing in the disciplines of cross country, downhill, and four-cross. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing b ...

. Henzi later represented her nation Switzerland, as a 38-year-old senior, at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, and also rode professionally for more than five seasons on Fischer-BMC Team, before retiring from the sport in early 2010.

Racing career

As a full-time member of Fischer-BMC team since her professional cycling debut in 2002, Henzi sought sporting headlines on the international scene at the 2005

in Livigno, Italy, where she claimed the bronze medal in the women's marathon race, adding the Swiss national championship title to her career resume in that same year. A year later, Henzi continued to flourish her ample success in mountain biking, as she collected a Swiss national championship title in women's cyclo-cross, and a prestigious silver medal in the marathon race at the 2006 UCI World Championships in

Oisans L'Oisans () is a region in the French Alps, located in the départements of l'Isère and Hautes-Alpes, and corresponding to the drainage basin of the River Romanche and its tributaries (Eau d'Olle, Lignarre, Sarenne, Vénéon and Ferrand). Betw ...

, France. With the sudden absence of three-time world and defending Olympic champion

Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå (born 10 February 1973) is a Norwegian cross-country and marathon mountain biker. She won the women's cross-country gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games and is a multiple World Champion. She has won six World Championsh ...

of Norway due to a sustained stomach virus, Henzi managed to hold off a sprint cross-country race against Germany's

Sabine Spitz Sabine Spitz (born 27 December 1971 in Herrischried, Baden-Württemberg) is a German cross country cyclist. She won bronze in Women's cross-country at the 2004 Summer Olympics, silver in the event in the 2012 Summer Olympics and gold in the ...

for an elusive gold medal in the same distance at the 2007 UCI World Championships in Verviers, Belgium. Henzi's striking effort on her gold-medal success strongly guaranteed an automatic spot for her team at the Olympics. Henzi qualified for the Swiss squad, along with her teammate and European junior champion Nathalie Schneitter, in the women's cross-country race at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

by receiving one of the nation's two available berths for her team from the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI), based on her best performance at the World Cup series and Mountain Biking World Rankings. She successfully completed a 4.8-km sturdy, treacherous cross-country course with a career-high, sixth-place effort in 1:48:41, narrowly missing out the Olympic podium by more than two seconds. Shortly after the Olympics, Henzi established herself again as the top female cyclist by surpassing her teammate

Esther Süss Esther Süss (born 19 March 1974) is a Swiss cross-country mountain biker. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Women's cross-country at Hadleigh Farm, finishing in 5th place. Süss raced the Absa Cape Epic in 2011 ...

for another gold medal at the second and final stage of the Nissan UCI MTB World Cup in

Ornans Ornans () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. On January 1, 2016, the former commune Bonnevaux-le-Prieuré was merged into Ornans.UCI World Championships in Graz, Austria, Henzi could not match a sterling ride with a bronze-medal effort in the women's cross-country race, trailing behind her rivals Spitz and Süss by almost three minutes.

Career achievements

;2005 : 1st MaillotSuiza

Swiss MTB Championships (Cross-country),

Champéry Champéry (; frp, Champérié) is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Champéry is first mentioned in 1286 as ''Champery'' The Hotel Dent-du-Midi opened in 1857. In 1969, Champéry becam ...

(SUI) : UCI World Championships (Marathon), Livigno (ITA) : UCI World Championships (Cross-country), Livigno (ITA) ;2005 : 1st MaillotSuiza

Swiss MTB Championships (Cyclo-cross),

Meilen Meilen is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Archaeological finds in Meilen date back more than 4,000 years. In January 1854 the level of lake Zürich was particularly low and the locals ...

(SUI) : UCI World Championships (Marathon),

(FRA) ;2007 : UCI World Championships (Marathon), Verviers (BEL) ;2008 : Stage 2, Nissan UCI World Cup,

Ornans Ornans () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. On January 1, 2016, the former commune Bonnevaux-le-Prieuré was merged into Ornans.Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

(

Cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

(CHN) ;2009 : UCI World Championships (Marathon),

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

(AUT) ;2010 : 2nd Swiss MTB Championships (Marathon),

Mendrisio Mendrisio (; lmo, label= Ticinese, Mendris ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian-speaking Switzerland (U ...

(SUI)

References

External links

NBC 2008 Olympics profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henzi, Petra 1969 births Living people People from Aarau District Swiss female cyclists Cross-country mountain bikers Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Switzerland UCI Mountain Bike World Champions (women) Sportspeople from Aargau