Some of St. Albert’s tiniest speedsters caught up with one of their real-life heroes last weekend.
Molly Simpson placed fifth in the women’s BMX final at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 2, Canada’s best-ever result. The Red Deer native wowed the crowds by making an appearance at the Canada Cup 4 and 5 events at the St. Albert BMX track Aug. 17 and 18.
Kaitlyn Wiebe’s seven-year-old son, Cole, was amazed to meet someone he’d watched on television in real life.
“Cole said ‘Meeting Molly was so cool,’” Wiebe said Monday. “He couldn’t believe the same Molly Simpson that we watched on TV competing in Paris was at the same BMX competition as him. Molly is an inspiration to the whole BMX community.”
On Tuesday, Pierce travelled from Airdrie with her eight-year-old son, Eli. She said the family watched all of Molly’s races at home.
“When my sons heard she would be at the St. Albert BMX Provincial races they were beyond excited,” Pierce said via email. “Before the races started, they did a special presentation for Molly and unveiled a huge banner honouring her at the track. She spoke to the crowd and continued to be the poised, humble and thankful athlete that she represented in Paris.”
The highlight of the weekend was being able to watch Molly race on the same track her son would.
“My youngest son Eli was so excited to meet her and get her autograph on his helmet,” Pierce said. “He also put her sticker on his helmet as well – being very particular with the placement.”
The family was inspired by Molly’s fifth-place finish in the women’s BMX final, the best result for a Canadian ever (Tory Nyhaug also placed fifth in the men's race at the Rio 2016 games).
“(That) was an amazing accomplishment from a young woman from small-town Alberta, and we can only see things getting better for her in the future,” Pierce said. “So many young riders were inspired by her over the weekend and my young son now has goals to be in the Olympics one day!”
An ideal ambassador
Reached by phone Wednesday, Simpson said she was still processing the Paris result, and perhaps still feeling a bit of jet lag, when she hit the track in St. Albert – less pressure, but also less adrenaline. It was her first race since the Olympics and her first lap around the upgraded track, which she has had input on from the beginning.
“I definitely was satisfied immediately after the first lap of the track, I was thinking ‘this was what I was expecting,’” she said. "It’s more technical and deeper than other tracks in Alberta.”
She reflected on the amount of support and volunteering that led to the upgrading of the track, not to mention all the people who work behind the scenes to put on events like the race series St. Albert hosted and will continue to host.
“I have to thank Alberta Supercross and Alberta BMX for what they’ve done for the sport,” she said. “All the volunteers and track operators, they put a lot of work into it.”
Simpson returns to her home track in Red Deer for the next instalment in the Canada Cup series this coming weekend. She’ll be ready as always to serve as an ambassador for the sport, as she did here in St. Albert.
“I knew that was going to happen, but I was still surprised by how many little girls and boys and even adults I’ve inspired,” Simpson said. “I really appreciated it. It felt really good. I felt like my cup was full.”
Kyle Reiling, president of St. Albert BMX, said it’s hard to quantify the impact an athlete like Simpson can have on the sport, really, has already had on the sport. He’s looking forward to hosting national BMX championship race events in 2025 and 2026, and has his sights set on bringing a world championship here, too.
“It’s more than just Molly now,” he said. “We have multiple world-ranked younger riders, and very few riders in the world have such a facility at their disposal. It’s massive, I don’t think St. Albert understands the jewel that they have here.”