Wigan bike firm's joy for Olympics golden-girl Charlotte

A Wigan bike firm boss has spoken of his pride and delight at seeing a cyclist they have nurtured claim Olympic gold.

Alans BMX has sponsored Team GB athlete Charlotte Worthington for almost three years, and even supplied her first BMX bike.

Earlier this week she won the BMX freestyle title at the Tokyo games.

Owner Alan Woods, who is a former British champion himself, is overjoyed to see the sport becoming cemented in the Olympics and someone he has championed come good.

He said: “She is just insane. She crashed on the first attempt but had the confidence to do that same difficult run again. I don’t think I’ve shouted at my laptop screen so much in my life. This is a win for BMX.

“I was an emotional wreck, it was incredible. We’ve done this for 40 years, so there has been a lot of hard work. Who knew it, it wasn’t football coming home, it was BMX.”

After building Worthington’s first BMX, Mr Woods says he jumped at the chance to sponsor her, and believed it was important to encourage more females to take part.

“We had the choice of all the pro-riders, but straightaway I wanted Charlotte. She is down to earth and has appreciated what everyone has done for her.

“The decision was seen as a weird one at the time. I realised we needed more participation in women’s sport, and to do that you need amazing role models.

The Wigan business is the oldest BMX shop in the UK, with Mr Woods being delighted by the reaction the sport has received from the public.

“It’s unbelievable, the way it has captured the imagination of the nation and exposed new people to BMX. Disney couldn’t write a movie like this, because what happens in sport is more real than what they could ever come up with.

“We are hoping when she is back, she will be able to do something in store. We are also going to design an Olympic themed shop window.”

Great Britain also won bronze in the freestyle, as well as gold and silver in the BMX racing. Kye Whyte, who took silver, is also a former Alans BMX rider.

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