Zoe Claessens: the grands objectsifs and 2025
Zoe Claessens takes height
Zoe Claessens with her bike
La Vaudoise wants to be familiar with the summits
Zoe Claessens with her Olympic medal
The Swiss woman was triumphantly welcomed in Morges
After her Olympic medal, Zoé Claessens dreams of world gold – Gallery
Zoe Claessens: the grands objectsifs and 2025
Zoe Claessens takes height
Zoe Claessens with her bike
La Vaudoise wants to be familiar with the summits
Zoe Claessens with her Olympic medal
The Swiss woman was triumphantly welcomed in Morges
The first Swiss Olympic medalist in BMX Racing history, Zoé Claessens has a new goal in mind: the world champion’s rainbow jersey.
Zoé Claessens became the first Swiss Olympic medalist in BMX Racing history this summer in Paris. The Vaudoise now has a new goal in mind: the world champion’s rainbow jersey.
After a well-deserved vacation, the Vaudoise returned to training to prepare for the 2025 season. On the BMX track at the World Cycling Center in Aigle, the three-time European champion welcomed Keystone-ATS to look back on the best moments of his Olympic summer and on his new ambitions.
Converting a “medal chance”
On August 2, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the 23-year-old athlete brought to Switzerland the sixth of his eight charms, the third in one day, by adorning himself in bronze. “I was so happy to get this medal. I put a lot of pressure on myself before the Games, because I knew I could do something and I was stressed (at the idea) of failing,” she confides.
“In general, I’m better on tracks that have long lines. But in my head I told myself that I liked it because it always helps,” she laughs. “In the quarter-final and semi-final, I didn’t make a very good start and I was especially happy to have reached the final,” adds the Vaudoise, whose first Olympic experience in 2021 in Tokyo was was finished prematurely in the semi-final after a fall.
Le clan Claessens
Zoé Claessens is the perfectionist type. And if this bronze medal fully satisfies her, she says she has already put this race behind her. “I’ve rewatched the final a few times, but I see a lot of mistakes and it reminds me that it wasn’t my best race of the year,” she says.
The Vaud athlete of the year prefers to look back at the images after the race, especially the time spent with her parents, brothers, sisters and friends who came to support her at the edge of the track. “It’s my best memory of the Games. They are also the ones who helped me reach this level. Being able to find them right after the medal ceremony was very moving,” she recalls.
The party at the Swiss House, the celebration at the Parc des Champions at Trocadéro in a “crazy atmosphere” and his rockstar return to Morges station will also remain moments engraved in his memory. But four months after this unforgettable week, Zoé Claessens now has her eyes focused on the future.
A Rainbow Dream
“In 2025, the World Championships will take place in Copenhagen (ed: July 28 to August 3). I have already placed second twice, now the objective is to win them,” she says with the desire to swap the European champion jersey for an even more colorful knit. “Wearing the rainbow jersey is still something quite prestigious in cycling. That’s really one of my main goals.”
With four World Cup stages under her belt, Zoé Claessens knows she is capable of beating the best riders in the world. To maximize her chances, she focuses on physical preparation, the area where she believes she has the greatest room for improvement. “It’s an easy aspect to work on because it’s mainly bodybuilding. On a technical level, I think I am quite strong, although I can always improve,” she explains.
If Los Angeles 2028 is already in the back of her mind, Zoé Claessens prefers to go there “year by year”. “There are plenty of competitions that promise to be exciting in the coming seasons,” she says. The Vaudoise also hopes that her Olympic bronze medal will allow her “niche” sport to develop in Switzerland. “I’m hopeful that he continues to grow. When I returned to my club in Echichens, some little girls told me that they had started BMX when they saw me on TV. It made me really happy to hear that.”
