Teenage tricks: Sasha Pardoe is Great Britain’s next BMX medal hope

Sasha Pardoe reels off her up-to-date injury list with the air of a carefree teenager. 

“I’ve broken my nose, my collarbones four times and… I had surgery on my collarbone five weeks ago,” says the 17-year-old, adding that she had a metal chip inserted in her shoulder.

Such is the nature of being a top competitor in freestyle BMX. Pardoe, one of Britain’s brightest young talents to emerge on the scene in recent years, has been tipped as one of the sport’s next biggest stars. Her performance at last week’s UCI World Championships in Glasgow certainly backs up that claim. Despite her interrupted preparation and it being only her second time competing on the world stage at senior level, Pardoe made the final.

“I didn’t learn loads of new tricks coming into this competition, just because of what the doctors told me and the risks they warned about, so I didn’t ride the best I could have,” she says. “I rode about 40 per cent of what I can actually do, just to make sure I didn’t fall and bend the metal or do anything to my shoulder.”

With her pink hair and three nose rings, Pardoe perfectly fits the profile of a “cool” BMX rider – a path she embarked upon when she went to choose her first bike as a child. “I walked past all of the ones with pink tassels on. I wanted this yellow BMX. It was called ‘Barracuda Dirt Squirt’. I fell in love with it and my dad bought it,” says Pardoe, her face breaking into a smile at the memory.

Pardoe was always destined to become an elite competitor. Her father, Gavin, enjoyed his own success in the saddle as a former time trial road racer for Great Britain and, perhaps the assumption was that his daughter would follow in his footsteps. But Pardoe had other ideas. The wonderfully named Barracuda Dirt Squirt would be her gateway into the trick-filled, adrenalin-fuelled world of BMX. “I don’t think he [dad] minds that I didn’t do road racing,” she says. “He just wanted me to find something that I loved, and I did.” 

Such was Pardoe’s enthusiasm for the sport that her parents built a skate park in their hometown of Stourbridge to nurture their daughter’s passion. The park, named Unit3Sixty, did not only quickly grow into a thriving community hub, but it became the family business. It was where Pardoe spent most of her childhood, scaling up and down ramps, performing tricks and flips.

But five years ago, the park was forced to close after its once profitable cafe took an immediate knock when fast-food restaurants opened on the site. “It closed because the council gave us this healthy eating thing so we couldn’t sell chips on their own,” says Pardoe, explaining a food edict the local council had in place at the time. “The cafe was the strongest money that we had coming in. They allowed Costa, KFC and McDonald’s to open on the same unit as us and it killed the skate park overnight.”

The council did say it would do “everything possible to work with the owners and see whether there is anything else the council and its partners can do to help” while explaining that it had given start-up and public health grants to support the business. Still, the skate park was forced to close.

As devastating as it was, Pardoe never lost sight of her dream: to one day ride her BMX for a living. Supported by her dad, who became her coach, she quickly rose through the ranks and caught the eye of British Cycling. “Whenever we went to competitions, he would plan out my run for me, whenever he went to skate parks, he’d ride with me,” she says. “But when the skate park opened, he stopped riding with me because he was running the business. Then he stopped being able to do my competition runs because I was away with British Cycling.”

Pardoe has just moved up to British Cycling’s podium potential programme, which aims to develop riders and ensure they are equipped to compete for medals at World Championships. Her rise into the senior category could hardly be more timely. Following the breakthrough successes of Charlotte Worthington, Bethany Shriever and Declan Brooks at the Tokyo Olympics, BMX has seen an uptick in funding from Sport England for the Paris Games.

Pardoe finished second behind Worthington at the British National Championships last year. Owing to the age gap, she has only recently struck up a bit of a friendship with the Olympic champion, who is 10 years her senior. She also name-checks Shriever as someone she looks up to, but admits she only had male role models when growing up.

“When I used to go to the skate park, I’d be the only girl. As time goes on now, there are a lot more girls on BMXs, scooters. It’s quite rare that I’m the only girl now. It’s great to see.”

Pardoe’s media experience might be limited owing to her age, but the softly-spoken teenager does not shy away from probing questions. As we begin talking about self-expression and the importance of her nose jewellery, I ask about the necklace she is wearing. Pardoe often kisses the chain before and after competing.

“It’s a locket which … sorry I’m going to tear up,” she says, her voice tingling with emotion. She pauses to recompose herself. “It was my nan’s. My nan had a long fight with cancer. She passed away in lockdown because they couldn’t perform chemotherapy.”

There is no doubt that Pardoe, who is also pursuing an apprenticeship to become a chef, has a maturity rarely found in most 17-year-olds. Since being thrust into the world of elite sport, she has had to grow up quickly.

“I’m the youngest rider on the British Cycling team going to competitions. It’s nerve-wracking. I’m getting shipped away to different countries without my parents. They’ve always been there, but even in Glasgow they weren’t there. I think it’s made me mature very quickly and … not grow up, but find my feet a bit.”

There is too, it seems, a certain maturity to learning a new trick on the bike. “If you do a flare – which is a backflip 180 – it’s not guaranteed that you’ll land it every time after that,” says Pardoe. “You have to carry on doing it for ages. If you don’t do that for a couple of months, you might lose that trick. It takes more time mastering the trick rather than learning the trick. You can’t really put a timeframe on it, you just have to keep chipping away at it, especially because a lot of people are different. Some tricks might come to people easier than others.”

It is clearly a case of practice makes perfect if Pardoe is to realise her dreams. “I have a lot of dreams,” she says. “The main one is to ride my bike for a living. To be one of the most successful bike riders in the world. I haven’t been given the opportunity to qualify for the Paris Olympics, especially because of my injuries this year. I’d like to work towards it in the short time I have to qualify, but never say never. Who knows?”

Even if Paris comes too soon one thing is certain – Pardoe is definitely one to watch.

Three more talented teens

Sky Brown: Skateboarding

Brown became Team GB’s youngest-ever medal winner when, aged just 13, she won bronze in the park event at the Tokyo Olympics.

Despite being born in Miyazaki to a Japanese mother, Brown elected to represent the country of her father as she felt there would be less pressure than representing the home nation at a Games.

Before the Olympics, Brown suffered a serious injury whilst training in California in 2020. She was described as “lucky to be alive” but the incident has only made her more determined to achieve her dream of Olympic gold. She has already become a world champion, taking gold earlier this year in the United Arab Emirates.

Testament to her can-do attitude, Brown encourages those who follow her to push their own boundaries. “When I skate I feel free, like I can do anything,” she has said. “And if people see me, the smallest girl, doing the highest trick, then anyone could think they could do anything.”

With Paris 2024 less than a year away, Brown, now 15, will be hoping to build on her previous successes and land that prized Olympic gold. There is even a suggestion she may compete in surfing, too.

Mia Brookes: Snowboarding

The 16-year-old British snowboarder claimed gold in the slopestyle event at this year’s World Championships in Georgia, with her 1440 double grab trick, which had never previously been seen in a women’s event, decisive in winning the title.

“I’ve never been so happy in my life,” Brookes said as she defied expectations to become not only the youngest-ever snowboard world champion but also the first Briton to win the event.

Having entered the GB Snowsport programme aged 10, she made her international debut in the Europa Cup in 2020, finishing on the podium.

She was unable to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics because she was too young, but has her sights set on 2026.
“I’m working every day towards the Olympic dream,” she said.

Alys Barton: Surfing

As well as being a British and European champion surfer, 18-year-old Barton carries a powerful message for young females trying to make their way in the sport.

She is a keen advocate for as much women’s participation in the sport as possible and has said: “I stand for all the young female athletes in professional sports alongside many remarkable and tenacious women in surfing … no one owns the line-up! Go out there and do your thing.”

Hailing from Swansea, Barton comes with considerable pedigree given her regular presence in the World Surf League and recent win at the Porsche Cold Wave event in Poland.

She has her eyes on a different prize though: becoming the first surfer to represent GB at the Olympics. Paris 2024 is around the corner, although the surfing will take place in Tahiti, and it may come too soon for her as every country is not guaranteed a place, but she will hope to set pulses racing on a global stage.

“If there was a British surfer at the Olympics the impact on the sport in this country could be spectacular,” she told The Sportsman. “There are a lot of young girls all over the UK who are really getting into surfing and it would be inspiring for them.”