Nikita Wins Gold in Russia at European Championships!

Even though there are not as many events this year Mongoose BMX pro Nikita Ducarroz took full advantage of what was out there, traveling the globe to hit any contest that was happening. For one of the last events this year, she hit the UEC European BMX Park Championships in Moscow, Russia! Not letting her Olympic medal momentum slow down, Nikita pulled out all the stops and took home the gold! We caught up with the new European Champion to get her take on the event.

Tell us a little about your time in Russia…

NIKITA DUCARROZ: Russia was super cool!! I didn’t explore a whole lot but did get to walk around Red Square on the last day which was pretty unreal. The event itself was incredible. It had such a cool vibe inside of a huge concert hall, with lights and live band etc. Every single detail was taken care of for us.  The Russian people were amazing hosts, and I can’t wait to go back. 

How was the level of riding at the event?

NIKITA:  The level wasn’t as high as Tokyo as I think everyone is still sort of coming back into their routine.  The course however was the best course I’ve ever ridden in my entire life, and I had so much fun.  I could have kept riding it for weeks.

Let’s talk about your run and winning the event…

NIKITA:  My goal for the first run (winning run) was just to put down something solid but somewhat “safe”. I actually got lost halfway through so improvised a little but luckily it still worked!  Then since I was the last one to go and knew I had won before my second run, I used that to try some stuff I was going to do which in this case was the flip turndown. Cased a bit and lost my speed so didn’t get a full run in but still stoked for trying! 

Now that you are the European champion what is next for Nikita?

NIKITA:  That was the final medal I wanted to add to my collection for this year! Really pumped to see the hard work paying off going from a 4th or 5th place rider in previous years to podiums at every single event of 2020/21. But that’s in the past and now it’s time to get back to the grind and put in the work for the next season and Olympic run. It’s not going to be easy; the level is insane with no signs of stopping so I have a lot of time to put in if I want to continue this way!