Petch swaps bikes for Comm Games

Iphillip.rollo@stuff.co.nz

f someone had told BMX rider Rebecca Petch during the Tokyo Olympics that in 2022 she would be selected to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in track cycling, there is no way she would have believed them.

At that point she had never even ridden on a track bike and going to the Commonwealth Games would mean having to forgo the world championships in BMX, a sport she has dedicated 20-plus years to.

‘‘No, I didn’t think I would be going to the

Commonwealth Games,’’ Petch said.

It was not until November last year, three months after she made it through to the BMX semifinals on her Olympics debut, that the three-time defending national champion decided to give track cycling a go, having been identified as the missing piece to what could be a worldclass women’s sprint team.

Her BMX background, and explosiveness out of the gate, made her the ideal starter in the three-person team sprint where the first rider drops out after the first lap after leading their two team-mates over the first 250m.

‘‘I got approached to see if I would be interested and this was pre-tokyo. I pondered on it for a while and then near the end of the year I decided to actually give it a go. I thought it would be a cool opportunity to try it.

‘‘They were after a starter because it used to be a twoperson sprint but now it’s three and they didn’t have someone to do the start. I guess BMX is quite explosive and they thought I could be all right as a starter, and here I am.’’

Petch’s transition to track cycling was seamless. After setting a national record for the standing lap within her month on the track, she then joined forces with Olympic medallist Ellesse Andrews and Olivia King and won both national and Oceania titles in the team sprint to cement her spot in the 30-strong cycling team for the Commonwealth Games.

‘‘[It has been] very positive thus far,’’ sprint coach Nick Flyger said.

‘‘In combination with Ellesse Andrews and Olivia King in the team sprint we are sitting around fourth in the world on times posted to date since the women’s team sprint went to three laps.

‘‘With Shaane Fulton close to recovery from injury we have an exciting group of women beginning to develop.

‘‘Aside from the obvious physical potential, Rebecca also brings a strong high performance mindset which is really positive in and around the team.

‘‘Rebecca has great power to weight which is important in our sport.

‘‘[She is] also very accomplished in the gym meaning we were able to quickly transition into high quality track work without years of background strength development.’’

Petch was able to juggle both BMX and track cycling pretty well up until the Commonwealth Games, as well as a business she started making coffee out of a renovated caravan.

But in order to compete in Birmingham, Petch has had to make a major sacrifice. She has had to bypass the BMX world championships as the event is scheduled to take place in France on the same dates.

‘‘I had to pick which one I wanted to do but I thought the Commonwealth Games is such a cool opportunity, so I decided not park the BMX but just concentrate a little bit more on the track into the Commonwealth Games and

I’ll get on the BMX after that,’’ she said.

‘There was a mixture of reasons that made me make that decision but for one the Commonwealth Games is every four years, it’s a cool event for New Zealanders, but also having the team event and the girls needing a starter, I wanted to be part of a team and be able to compete with them.

‘‘BMX worlds, while it’s also important, it’s not an Olympic qualifier.’’

Petch will also compete in the 500m time trial and individual sprint at the Commonwealth Games.

It will be her first competition outside of Oceania.