Zoé Claessens

Zoe Claessens
Personal information
Born (2001-04-28) 28 April 2001 (age 23)
Echichens, Switzerland
Medal record
Representing  Switzerland
Women's BMX racing
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 1
Youth Olympic Games 0 1 0
World Championships 0 2 0
World Junior Championships 0 1 1
World Cup 0 1 0
World Cup rounds 4 4 3
European Championships 4 0 0
European Junior Championships 1 0 0
Total 9 9 5
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris BMX racing
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Nantes BMX racing
Silver medal – second place 2024 Rock Hill BMX racing
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2022 BMX racing
Youth Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed BMX racing
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Baku BMX racing
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Heusden-Zolder BMX racing
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Heusden-Zolder BMX racing
Gold medal – first place 2023 Besançon BMX racing
Gold medal – first place 2023 Besançon BMX time trial (team)
Gold medal – first place 2024 Verona BMX racing
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Valmiera BMX racing

Zoe Claessens (born 28 April 2001) is a Swiss BMX racing cyclist.

Claessens started racing BMX at age seven. Her father founded the Echichens BMX Club in Switzerland, and two of her brothers were also BMX racers. In 2018 she received the Female Young Talent award from the Swiss Sports Aid Foundation. She was selected in the Swiss team for the Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX racing.[1] Prior to that event in June 2021 she became the European Champion in Heusden-Zolder.[2] She is coached by former World Champion and British Olympian Liam Phillips.[3]

In 2022 she won silver at the UCI BMX World Championships. In October 2022 she finished runner-up at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup behind Laura Smulders and ahead of Olympic champion Beth Shriever.[4]

She was a silver medalist at the 2024 UCI BMX World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina in June 2024.[5]

Claessens won bronze at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, becoming the first Swiss BMX racer to achieve this at the Olympics.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Cycling BMX Racing: CLAESSENS Zoe". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  2. ^ "BMX: la Vaudoise Zoé Claessens championne d'Europe!". RTSSport.ch. July 10, 2021.
  3. ^ Bory, Romain (2021-07-19). "Liam Phillips: "When she performs well, Zoé Claessens is competitive"". La Cote. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  4. ^ "BMX World Cup: Olympic champion Beth Shriever finishes third overall". BBC Sport. 2 October 2022.
  5. ^ "2024 UCI BMX Racing World Championships: Alise Willoughby and Joris Daudet claim third UCI World Title". uci.org. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Zoé Claessens holt historische Bronzemedaille" [Zoé Claessens wins historic bronze medal] (in German). Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. 2 August 2024.


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