Pinkbike is celebrating International Women's Day by taking a moment to recognize all of the amazing women that have influenced the sport in the last year. From incredible race results to personal comebacks, from goals achieved, to new industry programs and so much more. Respect.
The Highlights
Rachel Atherton has the perfect season. She wins the WC overall and the World Champs and is voted Pinkbike's Athlete of the Year among winning many other sports person of the year accolades.
After breaking her collarbone at the beginning of the season, Myriam Nicole comes back at world champs to take silver. Tracey Hannah has a super consistent season and lands in third.
After chasing the EWS Championship for three years, Cecile Ravanel finally lays claim to the title. Isabeau Cordurier and Anita Gehrig have a breakout year, rounding out the overall in second and third place respectively.
Interviews
We're privileged to have access to talk with some of the biggest names in the sport. Here's a selection of our favorite conversations from the last year.
The UCI changed its rules for female racers, Bell launched a new program to encourage women to mountain bike, and we were invited on a truly unique trip to lobby for bikes in Washington DC with other industry women. These are some of our most memorable women's interest stories from 2016.
Our Getting to Know series has provided our readers with the chance to get to know up and coming racers, industry insiders and mountain biking advocates and athletes. Here are some of the women we've met in the past year.
@theminsta: how dare you? Gender is a social construct. There is no difference between my daughter and my son. I try to bring up hen and hen as ethical human beings in the spirit of equality. You sound like you are the part of 1%, like you are the worst.
Just to be clear (I hate to be that guy) : It's actually the international day of women's rights. We tend to switch it as a day to celebrate women in general (and it's good) but it's a day to remember us that not a hundred years ago, women's were not considered proper citizens and could not even vote. Also, the fight is yet to be over. Everyday, women are considered to be lesser than man by many, many folks out there. Nobody is protected from themselves, so if you start to have tought like : ''wow, this is a jump for man!'' than you might still have some work to do and it's o.k. The important point is to acknoledge it. If everybody do a little step in the right direction, it will be a large global step.
The well-being of women is critical to the well-being of a society as a whole; without the very nature of females we would destroy all that sustains us. Whether a mountainbiker, CEO, mother or supermodel, I tip my cap in the greatest of respect to all the ladies ????
The awesome women's race scene! Races like Hot on Your Heels and the Sturdy Dirty Enduro Series have been bringing more women into racing, and groups like Kat Sweet's Sweetlines Junior Racing have encouraged young girls to get out and race.
Thanks Pinkbike for the growing attention and support of women in biking. The visibility can only help more gals take an interest in riding for the first time.
This made me sooo happy to see and read! Love all these girls to bits, and each and every one is just as inspiring as the next!! love my mtb family! Thanks Pinkbike for this!
I love seeing more articles on women in the sport. I show them to my step daughter to encourage her that she can do anything and not to listen anyone who says she can't do something because she is girl. I tell her she can kick ass as well as anyone else!
P.S. Lets see the prize payoffs for women be on par with men and set an example for other sports!
I would love to see some of the women featured that are behind the scenes. More stories of women like Mal Burd. People like Kristin Smart, Janette Sherman, Amy Stanfield, Kristin Butcher, Natalie Gentry, Candace Shadley... These are the women that are making things happen in the industry by getting companies on board to help promote women in biking. And they all can ride really, really well, too.
The highlight of the year has to be Rachel's dominance in the world cup. There have been other dominant female athletes and teams, but to win every single race in a given season is just an incredible individual feat. I understand that her team plays a big role in getting her bike setup as well as trainers and all of the other behind the scenes stuff, but to come out an execute at the highest level for every race and get the W against the best DH female athletes in the world is amazing to me.
Of course, I believe a shout out to another dominant female rider dubbed the Queen of Crankworx, Jill Kitner, is also well deserved.
With that said, Happy International Women's Day to all of you women and girls of mountain biking.
Emily Batty is a boss....period. Great role model. Canadian. World Champ XC racer. Dirt biker. Porsche driver. Sponsored athlete. Spokesperson. Olympian. the list goes on. I am grateful that my daughter has women like her (and many others mentioned here , and elsewhere) to look up to.
Womens Day is sexist in nature. To say they need a day to be recognized is asserting that they arent equal or need help. Or are we saying they are more important? I think its BS, and my mother and wife would never ask to be treated differently or given special treatment....that would be sexist.
As said somewhere else here, it's actually supposed to be Women's Rights Day. This of course is a worthy cause, since there are many places in the world where women are regarded as 2nd class citizens. This thing called Women's Day I also don't understand. By making it so generic I feel it takes attention away from women who live in really harsh/unfair conditions.
I sure hope one of you ladies out there step it up and give Tracy some competition. I sure hope one of you ladies out there step it up and give Tracy some competition period I sure hope one of you ladies out their step it up and give Tracy some competition. I sure hope one of you ladies out their step it up and give Tracy some competition period
My girlfriend asked if there's a man's day? I told her everyday i buy dinner and open ur door..tonight, its ur day so ur buying! She laughs at the hyprocrisy of the feminist movement. She's a conservative so go figure.
Hi, when was the last time you saw hipocrisy of the feminist movement on Pinkbike? Help me find it! I mean there are few social justice twats commenting but those are everywhere... like twats who like to be original by not acknowledging sht like womens day. Well if you are really chilled out about it then behave as if you were chilled out. One of signs of such state is blissful ignorance...
@dangem1: Can we have a right-wing, white, religious male day? These guys don't usually get much sht, but when they do, they are not allowed to defend themselves, and defending them is a social suicide.
Such negativity is not needed.
A little bit of tongue in cheek British humour is what's needed from time to time to reminder us of how far we as a society have come.
A female priminister, an almost female president. Women rule the world now as they have for centuries, and us guys are just kept around to do the heavy lifting.
www.pinkbike.com/news/the-dichotomy-paradox-2016.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s
why can't we just be more humane to other beings and have human being day 365 days a freakin' year?
White privilege tax!