Nine year old girl BMX racer Seren Pritchard heads to Nantes, France for World BMX championships in hopes to emulate her hero Beth Shriever
Seren Pritchard is a young girl who is going places on her BMX bike.
She was four and a half when she first rode on a track in Nottingham and right now she’s at the World BMX Championships in Nantes, France, among the top riders in the world.
The nine-year-old from Balderton has qualified to represent Great Britain in the BMX racing competition.
Her dad, Greg, said Seren had done well to reach this year’s world championships and was excited to compete.
“She is going to do her best and try and make the final,” he said.
“If she does make the final, she will be in the top eight in the world.”
Seren started racing just before she turned six. Her brother, Hari, also races and she wanted to get in on the action when he registered for the regionals.
“I put her straight in the expert category — sometimes there isn’t always a lot of girls in the novice races,” said Greg.
“I thought, she will be fine and after ten rounds, she won the regionals.
“She went to the British Championships that year and she made the final, and came fifth.
“She was the British number five.”
Seren also won the Midlands Champion-ships at the first time of asking.
The young racer is a member of the Nottingham Outlaws BMX club.
She rides at the Nottingham outdoor BMX track and travels to Derby once a week to train.
Seren also rides for Team Bunneys — part of Bunneys Bikes in Nottingham, one of the oldest BMX teams in the area.
Seren moved up to national racing in 2020, there was one round in Manchester but the covid lockdowns came into effect and the season was cancelled.
During covid, Seren and her brother, Hari were unable to use any tracks as the nearest one was an hour away.
“In 2021, we were back into it, she finished regional number one, won the midland champs again, and got through to the British final,” said Greg.
“Unfortunately, she had a bad gate start and finished eighth. Up until that point, she was coming in the top two all day.
“That is racing sometimes, you get boxed in if you don’t get a good start.”
Seren, who also trains in judo, competed her first national season where they travelled up and down the country.
She completed four rounds and came fourth, making the podium in the last two rounds when she finished third in both.
“To finish on the podium at a national race was a great effort,” said Greg.
Seren loves BMX but also does mountain biking with her family.
“It can be nerve-racking as a parent watching but it is also exciting,” said Greg.
She has had a crash before and managed to finish the lap.
Seren crashed in Scotland and still finished sixth.
Seren is now at the age where she gets an official national ranking.
It looks as though Seren is in the running to become the national number five racer, said Greg.
She will qualify for the world championships at Glasgow next year with her ranking.
Seren is a massive fan of Beth Shriever, the Olympic and World BMX champion.
She has met her idol and wants to emulate Beth’s success.
Seren is looking for a good result at the worlds and will be competing this week.
