Jemimah Wright reflects on watching American cyclist Alexis Alden point upward before her race which led her to explore the athlete’s performance, faith, and the growing legacy of women in BMX.
A few days ago I hopped onto the cycling machine at my gym to get through my fifteen minute warm up. While I was huffing and puffing away, the TV screen on the machine flickered with what I found out was the Junior Women’s final at the 2025 UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Copenhagen. It caught my attention as it wasn’t a sport I was familiar with.
As the camera honed in on each female rider at the beginning of a race, the first person it focused on was seventeen year old, Alexis Alden of the USA. In that instant, she raised a single finger upward, perhaps pointing to God? Curious, I did a quick search: her Instagram bio reads, “Live for Jesus”. I went back to watch her race with more interest.
There was a wipe out early on, with three contestants crashing into each other, but Alexis made it to the finish line, winning a bronze medal.
READ MORE: The impact of women in sport
After I had finished my gym session, I decided to do some more research on BMX racing, as I know almost nothing about BMX’s journey into the world stage, and particularly when women joined as competitors. Apparently, the UCI BMX World Championships began recognizing “elite women”, as early as 1996, with Natasha Williams winning that inaugural women’s title. Since then, the category has grown in prestige, featuring athletes like Shanaze Reade, a three‑time world champion, and Mariana Pajón, the Colombian powerhouse who earned the moniker “Queen of BMX” with multiple Olympic and world titles.
In the race I was watching, when the girls completed the course, they hugged and congratulated each other. They seemed friends. I found myself relieved that Alexis had not crashed or fallen off her bike like others in the race.
READ MORE: ‘God’s love for me was my anchor and stability in the unpredictable world of sport’
What do we know of Alexis Alden beyond her winning bronze and pointing up to God? She was the 2023 National No. 1 Amateur Junior Pan‑American champion and she is open and proud about her faith in Jesus. Alexis is from Georgia, in the Bible belt of America, but her faith does not seem to be simply inherited. It appears she has a living relationship with her God. Speaking to PULL BMX about a previous race she said: “Honestly, I was in another mental [zone]. I’m not saying no thoughts were going on, but I had to be confident within myself and Jesus. I know that he’s given me talent, and I just had to play it through and literally trust the process. I think that was the main reason I wasn’t nervous because it was, ‘Okay, it’s just any other race. It’s my race, my gate. I gotta get out and don’t change a thing,” and that’s all I did.”
READ MORE: Jesus first, Olympics second
As for Alexis’s future, she said to PULL BMX: ”I definitely want to go Pro within the next year and a half or so. I definitely would rather do it sooner than later.” … “I want to become a professional BMX racer, and I’d say my biggest goal is to make the 2028 LA Olympics. That’s probably my biggest goal that I’m going to reach for. After that, whatever happens happens, but I’d say Olympics is a dream that I definitely want to see and live out.”
It was an upexpected bonus to hear about the faith of teen athlete Alexis Alden on my trip to the gym, and she has found a new fan. I hope she does make it to the Olympics.
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