OLYMPICS SPOTLIGHT: 2020 Bronze medalist Nikita Ducarroz reveals how BMX saved her life - and how she uses her bike to 'bribe my fear'... with Swiss-American targeting a return to the Games in Paris

The Olympics are now just 16 weeks away, and Mail Sport is looking ahead to the Paris Games with a series of interviews, flashbacks and deep dives.

To be an Olympian, your sport has to be a consuming part of your life but for Nikita Ducarroz, BMX is not just a competition, it's ‘everything.’ 

Ducarroz, the bronze medalist in BMX Freestyle at the Tokyo Games, doesn’t hold back when it comes to talking about the importance of BMX in her life.

As a teenager crippled by anxiety, the Swiss-American rider couldn’t go outside. Confined to the walls of her house, unable to face going to school and forced to quit soccer, BMX offered her a lifeline. With a bike, Ducarroz pedaled her way to freedom.

The 27-year-old openly credits the sport for dragging her out of the darkest moments of her life and all the way to the Olympic stage.

‘It was definitely an escape at the time,’ Ducarroz tells Mail Sport in Red Bull's New York offices.

2020 Olympic Bronze medalist Nikita Ducarroz claims BMX is 'everything' to her 

The athlete doesn’t hold back when it comes to talking about the importance of BMX in her life

The 27-year-old credits the sport for dragging her out of her dark moments to the Olympics

‘It's the only reason I've been able to leave my house. I worked on leaving my house because I wanted to ride the skatepark. And then I wanted to ride the skatepark further away. And then I wanted to get on a plane to go to a competition.

‘It was always that I wanted to try it so badly that I was able to justify the panic and fear I was going to feel getting there. I used my bike to bribe my fear to do these things. And I still do it today. It's ongoing. To me, riding is everything.’

In BMX Ducarroz found a passion that overcomes fear - a fear that began when she was just 11.

Growing up in California, she had played soccer as a young teenager until around the age of 13, when her anxiety and panic rendered her housebound, forcing her to quit, she reveals. No longer able to compete on the soccer field, her mom urged her to take up another sport to stay active.

With a bike already in her possession, mountain biking seemed like the logical choice until the thrill of BMX proved to be too much of a temptation.

‘I had a bike and I told her I was going to ride mountain bikes, because we had a lot of hills nearby,’ the Red Bull athlete explains.

‘That was kind of just my way of saying she'll see that I'm doing something active, but I don't have a team relying on me. I don't have to be there at a specific time. I can just do it when I want.

‘Then, through YouTube, I was watching more bike videos and I discovered BMX. I just started riding in the driveway and then I wanted to try the skatepark and it just went from there.

The rider sat down with Mail Sport at the Red Bull offices in New York City 

Ducarroz is pictured with Silver medalist Hannah Roberts of Team United States (left) and Gold medalist Charlotte Worthington (center) during the Tokyo Games 

‘Initially, it just looked really cool. Once I tried it, it was a constant drive. You can always keep learning things. I get bored very easily but it was never dull. There's always a new trick you can learn, there's always something you can improve on. It's just constantly changing and I think that was good for my brain.’

Ducarroz has worked with psychologists to equip her with tools such as meditations, visualization and breathing techniques but BMX is still the best form of therapy.

‘BMX has taught me so much about not quitting,’ she insists. ‘You have to try tricks so many times over and over again. It’s not something that you can try with no risk involved. Every single attempt, you risk crashing. You’re like, “This one's gonna hurt but I have to do it anyway.”

‘And I've been able to carry that over into when I'm anxious, knowing this isn't going to be fun, but I have to do it to get to the other end. I feel like BMX and my anxiety have both taught me different things that apply to each other.’

Ducarroz is not defined by her mental health - not if her Olympic Bronze and two World Championship Silvers are anything to go by - but she does believe she can help others cope by speaking out.

She was in eighth grade when she first opened up about her own battle with mental health, posting a video to YouTube as part of a school project. She says the overwhelming response was so ‘eye-opening’ that it spurred her on.

‘If Athletes, when they're on a bigger stage, can make it more normal to talk about mental health, it can have a big impact,’ she insists.

‘I feel like it has been more so since Tokyo especially. Having sports psychologists and support more readily available, it becomes more normal. Everyone has a strength and conditioning coach, and I think it should be the same for a psychologist.’

In BMX Ducarroz found a passion that overcomes fear - a fear that began when she was just 11

Ducarroz is not defined by her mental health, having won  Olympic Bronze and two World Championship Silvers

The Swiss-American competes at the European Championships Munich 2022 at Olympiapark

In 2021, she launched Mind Tricks - her platform for athletes to promote open discussion about mental health.

But Ducarroz isn’t the first Olympian to speak out about her own mental health struggles. US gymnastic legend Simone Biles made headlines during the Tokyo Olympics when she pulled out of the team finals.

In 2021, Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, came down with a severe case of the 'twisties' - a phenomenon that causes gymnasts to feel lost in the air.

Ducarroz explains that, while the BMX community doesn’t have a name for it such as the ‘Twisties’, it’s a phenomenon that also resonates within the sport.

‘There's definitely been times and other athletes have told me as well, where you have done this trick for years, and then all of a sudden, one day just doesn't work anymore,’ she explains.

Risk is an unavoidable factor of BMX riding and Ducarroz reveals she has ‘done her knees twice, torn some ligaments and broken her feet.’ But that apparently is ‘nothing too crazy.’ Not for a BMX rider anyway.

US gymnastic legend Simone Biles also spoke openly about mental health at the Olympics

In 2021, Ducarroz launched Mind Tricks - her platform for athletes to discuss mental health

‘We fall on a daily basis,' she says. 'So, what the average person would consider to be not normal is just a part of our everyday. You learn how to fall and roll. You still get hurt here and there but you get used to it.’

Like Biles, Ducarroz was also in Tokyo where BMX made its debut at the Olympic Games.

‘It’s been big, especially for the women's side. It brought a lot more funding from federations,' she says of the impact of the Olympics.

'It's opened up a lot more opportunities to compete, for sponsorships and to make a living from it. It's been cool to see it growing in that sense.

‘We didn't have spectators in Tokyo but I still think that a lot of people were able to either watch it or learn about it. In Switzerland, I had a lot of people coming up to me, saying that it was their first time seeing BMX or discovering BMX. It's such a special sport to us. So to be able to share it with more people and see more people get interested in it is always encouraging.’

Ducarroz hasn’t officially qualified for Paris yet but after placing second at the 2022 World Championships her spot is all but secured.

However, she fears replicating her success from the pandemic-delayed Games will be a tougher challenge in Paris as along with the positive exposure, comes stronger competition.

Risk is an unavoidable factor of BMX riding and Ducarroz reveals she suffered many injuries

‘I would love to medal again but I know it's gonna be more difficult this time,’ Ducarroz admits.

‘There's a lot of new younger riders that have emerged since the last Olympics, who weren't competing before that. Every year, the level is just going up at a pretty fast pace now. So, trick wise you have to step it up.

‘At the end of the day, my goal has always just been to land the run that I want to do - whatever I end up planning. The most satisfying thing is actually being able to finish it. From start to finish, land your clean run. At the end of the day, it's a judged sport. So there's only so much you can control and kind of only control what you do and ride your best.’

If Ducarroz makes it back onto the podium in Paris, it won’t be with the Star Spangled Banner on her uniform.

Born to a Swiss French father and an American mother, she chose to represent Switzerland over Team USA. Not necessarily because she felt the Swiss federation could offer her more than the US but because she saw what she could offer the federation and its future generation of riders.

Born to a Swiss French father and an American mother, she chose to represent Switzerland 

‘BMX was a very new concept to the Federations when it was announced as an Olympic event and the US had something put together, but they had quite a few riders already as well. On the Swiss side, there was absolutely nothing - not even a single male rider.

‘I've always felt very close to Switzerland, and that side of my family. So I thought it would be super special to represent that. But it also gave me an opportunity to build something with the Swiss federation.’

‘I already had my own coach and setup. So I was able to bring them in and build my own team around me. At the same time, we've been able to introduce BMX to the Federation, and they've grown more interested and created different types of criteria and paths.

‘Now there are some junior riders that are coming in, and they're getting some support from the Federation. So it's cool to see the building of that foundation. It's such a tiny country and so I don't think there will ever be like a lot of riders but for the riders that there are, it's cool that there's actually a path that they can take to get to that level.’