Postponed Olympics let BMX Freestyle rider Hannah Roberts find her motivation – WNDU-TV

BUCHAHAN, Mich. (WNDU) – We are just one week away from the Opening Ceremonies in Tokyo as athletes all over the world are making their final preparations to compete.

For many of us, 2020 put a lot of things into perspective.

The same can be said for local BMX Freestyle rider Hannah Roberts, who now has a new take on her sports.

“It came as a shock,” Roberts said.

No one saw it coming.

“2020 was definitely a weird year after the Olympics were postponed,” Roberts said.

Buchanan native Hannah Roberts was in full training mode gearing up to head over to Tokyo when the whole world shut down.

“I had hoped that Tokyo was still going to happen just because you know it’s the first Olympics,” Roberts said. “It’d be mind-blowing if it just completely got cancelled because the last four years have just been solely dedicated to Tokyo.”

Roberts was preparing to compete in BMX Freestyle, the first time it’s ever been in the Olympics.

She continued to train in North Carolina along with other riders, forming their own bubble.

“We had specific restrictions that were insane for a while between our group so that we could still train and keep everybody safe,” Roberts said. “We did everything that we could to try and keep everything as normal as possible. We even built a gym in the skate park.”

With competitions on hold, Roberts had time to focus on herself.

“For the personal growth side, I grew as a person completely,” Roberts said. “Having that time at home I was able to set up home roots in North Carolina, bought a house, got dogs, got married.”

For years, all Roberts had known was competitions.

“Because competitions were the only things that we were doing,” Roberts said. “In 2019, you’d come home from one trip, you’d have four days at home and you’d have to leave for another for like two weeks.”

Without them, she had time to take a step back and go back to the start.

“Once it all got taken away, you really have to reevaluate and see why you fell in love with the sport and why you want to get better as a whole because you’re driving aspect was not there,” Roberts said.

She was able to rediscover her motivation so now she’s ready to compete.

“BMX was the one thing I could feel completely free in and I had all the say in the world as what I could do on my bike,” Roberts said. “I do whatever I want, when I want. I could go wherever at the skate park. I could learn as I want. I couldn’t learn any tricks if want. Everything was under my control. Honestly, I just love the options that it brings to you so that’s what kept me motivated.”

Hannah is still training in North Carolina now before she leaves for Tokyo next week.

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