A year on from bitter disappointment at the Paris Olympics, Beth Shriever is using her frustration as fuel in her bid to reclaim the world champion’s rainbow jersey in Denmark this weekend.
Shriever went into last summer’s Games as favourite to defend the BMX racing title she won in Tokyo three years earlier, and certainly looked the part when dominating the early rounds.
But in an event where it can all go wrong in the blink of an eye, Shriever paid a heavy price for a poor start in the final and came in last.
“It hit me in the following weeks or months,” Shriever told the PA news agency. “I’d just think about it or dream about what happened. And it still does sting.
“It was a tough pill to swallow at the time, but it only made me hungry for this year and going forward.”
The 26-year-old tried to channel her disappointment into her winter training, only to hit another roadblock.
A lump in her collarbone proved to be a screw coming loose following the fracture she had suffered only two months before Paris, forcing her back to the operating table.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” Shriever added. “I think I just need a whole reset, I needed a break.”
Having rushed back from the initial injury in order to make Paris, now Shriever took her time. After waiting only three weeks from the first surgery to get back on her bike, now it was 10 weeks.
She returned to competition in Verona in March, but it took some getting used to.
“I was really nervous, scared,” Shriever said. “In practice I was riding like a novice. It took me a good few races to settle in and get into it. I’ve not experienced that before. I can usually get into it like that.
“As soon as I was back into it and enjoying myself, we were off. But being back in that environment again was a shock to the system.”
From the outside, Shriever made it look easy enough, taking a win on the second day of racing. When the World Cups started, a second place in Sarrians, France was followed with victory in Papendal in the Netherlands.
The real confirmation she was back came earlier this month as she won her second career European title in Valmeira, Latvia.
“It definitely meant a lot,” she said. “It’s definitely cemented where I’m at. I’m in a good place.”
The goal now is to follow up in Copenhagen, where Shriever is targeting what would be the third rainbow jersey of her career, the last having come on home turf in Glasgow in 2023.
“After Paris, I wanted to… not prove… well, maybe it is to prove to everyone what I am capable of,” she said.
“I think everyone saw it but it’s to actually deliver it and get something back. There’s nothing better than that. So I’m ready to lay my cards out, give it my best and see how we get on.”
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