Rebecca Petch Explained

Rebecca Petch
Birth Date:9 July 1998
Birth Place:Te Awamutu
Discipline:BMX racing, Track cycling
Role:Rider
Show-Medals:yes

Rebecca Petch (born 9 July 1998) is a New Zealand cyclist who competes in BMX Racing and track cycling. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's BMX race. She was a silver medalist in the track in the team sprint at the 2024 Paris Olympics.[1]

Career

From Te Awamutu, Petch started riding BMX aged 3. At the UCI BMX World Championships she came 15th at Rock Hill in 2017, she finished 11th in Baku in 2018, and 25th in Heusden-Zolder in 2019.[2]

On 17 June 2021, Petch was selected in her country's Olympic squad as New Zealand's sole BMX rider for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games.[3]

Petch was a gold medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the Women’s Team sprint competition.[4]

She was selected for the team sprint at the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, in which the New Zealand team placed fifth.[5]

She raced as part of the New Zealand team sprint side that contested the UCI Nations Cup in Hong Kong in March 2024.[6]

She competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the team sprint, and was part of the team on 5 August 2024 that briefly set a new world record record in the qualifying heats, and won the silver medal.[7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cycling BMX Racing PETCH Rebecca – Tokyo 2020 Olympics . 6 October 2021 . olympics.com . en-us.
  2. Web site: Rebecca Petch . 1 July 2021 . Cycling New Zealand.
  3. News: 17 June 2021 . Rebecca Petch overtakes her BMX inspiration to compete at Tokyo Olympics . 1 July 2021 . Stuff . en.
  4. Web site: Two golds in an hour! Kiwi cyclists go on Comm Games medal blitz.
  5. News: Paris Olympics: Waikato Olympic cyclists take first serious pedal-strokes towards games. The New Zealand Herald. 5 August 2024. 21 January 2024.
  6. Web site: Women team pursuit spark strong start for New Zealand track cyclists. sportzhub.com. 5 August 2024. 16 March 2024.
  7. News: Paris Olympics 2024: Aaron Gate and Ellesse Andrews lead New Zealand cycling team. The New Zealand Herald. 5 August 2024. 22 May 2024.
  8. Web site: Olympic silver for Kiwi women in velodrome. Otago Daily Times. 5 August 2024. 5 August 2024.