Rachel Atherton triumphed in the UCI Downhill World Cup in Lenzerheide on Saturday, staking her claim as “the fastest mum in the world”.
The six-time world champion had only raced once since 2019 after suffering a serious achilles injury and then, in 2021, giving birth to her daughter, Arna. Nonetheless, she won the women’s elite title in three minutes 7.514 seconds to deny Camille Balanche, the semi-final winner, victory on home soil in Switzerland.
“I just actually can’t believe it, it hasn’t really sunk in,” Atherton said afterwards. “You get so fired up and then it’s three minutes and it’s over.
“Coming into this I didn’t know if I would qualify, yesterday [qualification] was mind-blowing. I was like: ‘Woah!’ And this new format is so hard, doing semi-finals, you’ve got to save some energy. It’s mental, oh my gosh!”
Asked how it felt to have 21-month old Arna in attendance, Atherton said: “I want to cry! People said ‘leave her at home and come out and focus on yourself’ but having her here helps me relax and takes your mind off it.
“This morning I woke up at 5am and was like: ‘Oh my god, I’m so nervous.’ So I went into her room and I was like: ‘Yo, do you want to play?’ It takes your mind off it and it’s so good, I would recommend.”
During the race Cedric Gracia, the Eurosport commentator, dubbed Atherton “the fastest mum in the world” and “wonder woman”. Following her victory, the Salisbury-born racer headed straight back to the pits to breastfeed her daughter.
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“I’ve always wanted to try and put Arna first by breastfeeding on demand and that’s been so amazing but also limiting, but I’m glad I’ve taken my time returning to sport and I’m glad I gave myself nearly two years to just be with Arna 24/7 and to just be be there for her,” continued Atherton.
“For me, not getting hurt is even more important than it was before, as I’ve got a lot more responsibility. I’ve been very open about the fact that being a mum hasn’t been easy for me, I’ve really struggled, despite great support from my mum and my partner Olly.
“The lack of sleep was so hard for me, for the longest time I couldn’t even contemplate training again and that had knock-on effects. The lack of focus and routine wasn’t good for me either, especially as I never committed to a decision of either retiring or carrying on!
“It was a bit of a limbo time. Arana sleeping through the night has meant that I’m in a better mental state I feel like it’s allowed me to make good decisions! I’m loving the routine of training again and it’s really helped my mental health regularly training, exercising again, and it helps with sleep too.”
Jordan Williams, 18, triumphed on his debut in the men’s elite competition. “This is just insane,” he said. “Lenzerheide isn’t one of my favourite tracks and I just rode as well as I could, and I don’t even know [how I did it].”
