Malua Bay BMX rider Leah Hearne has claimed second spot in the BMX Australia national series top superclass races in Tasmania.
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The 16-year-old pushed against an older and more experienced Sydneysider Gemma-Lee Thomas and was within a whisker of the win – just 0.027 seconds behind.
Rounding out the podium was talented 15-year-old Paige Harding, who snuck under the guard of Australian junior women’s champion Ashlee Miller in what proved to be a top race craft display.
“It was challenging,” she said of the wet St Leonards’ track which faced her on Saturday.
The former St Peter’s Anglican College, Broulee, student’s takeaway lesson is to get “a lot more endurance” and to “focus and push towards the line”.
Leah now attends Gungahlin College in Canberra so she can dedicate more time to her chosen sport.
“There are a lot more training and competition opportunities,” she said.
She trains between two and three hours per day.
“I love my training, love my racing,” she said.
She values “all the improvements I see in myself” and sees training as “something to focus on and really set my mind towards”.
Her second place in Round 7 – the final round of the national series – gave her third place in the elite and super class.
“It was a big confidence booster,” she said.
“I hope I keep improving strongly. It is very nice to feel high in the sport.
It gets you pumped up and a lot of adrenalin rushing, which helps with the sport, definitely.
- Leah Hearne Malua Bay BMX rider
“This is my first year in elite and super class, when I started racing people a lot older than me.”
Last year she was national champion in the 17-24 years women’s cruiser class.
Leah says she gets a buzz from the sport.
“It feels amazing,” she said.
“You have all the adrenalin running through your body.
She can get “nervous and scared; a bit of both”, but even that can work in her favour “depending on the track and who I am up against”.
“It gets you pumped up and a lot of adrenalin rushing, which helps with the sport, definitely.” She remains excited about the prospect of BMX becoming an Olympic sport and would love to be part of it: “I think that is the goal for everyone in the sport; we will see how everything pans out.”