Welcome back to Strong Women’s new series, Going for Gold, where we’ll be looking behind the scenes with incredible female Olympians and Paralympians in the run-up to Paris 2024. From what their training regimes look like to how they support their hormonal health, consider this your insider guide to what it takes to be one of the best athletes in the world.

This week, we’re chatting with BMX rider Beth Shriever MBE, who made history at Tokyo 2020 when she claimed gold in a hotly contested final following a chain of unbeaten runs. Since then, she’s added both World and European titles to her collection and was awarded an MBE in the 2022 new year honours. In mid-May, she suffered a collarbone fracture while leading the British team at the BMX World Championships, but she’s still fighting to defend her title in Paris. 

Hello Beth, thanks for chatting with us. Can you start by telling us a little bit about how you got into BMX in the first place?

I was around eight years old when I first got into BMX. My youngest brother, Luke, and I got invited down to our local BMX track to give it a go and I absolutely loved it, even though my dad had to push me up some of the jumps. From there, we both went to the Saturday sessions at the club, took to the sport quickly and began working our way up from club racing to national racing and then European racing.

BMX racing must require a lot of different muscles – what does your training regime look like?

I’m doing a lot of strength and conditioning at the moment because of my injury, but we’ve got nine weeks until the Olympics so we’ve got time to get my strength back up. I’m in the gym three times a week doing weights, as well as building up my cardiovascular fitness on the turbo (an indoor cycling trainer). When I’m back on the bike, my routine will look similar – it’s likely that my next block of training will have one less gym session and more time on the track. From there, the track time will continue to increase so I’m feeling good on the bike and building faster times. 

That’s a lot of hard work! How do you stay fuelled?

I love eggs, so if I’ve got a double day (where we have two sessions in one day), I’ll always have some eggs on sourdough with a bit of avocado. Prioritising protein is also key when you’re refuelling, so I also like something simple like chicken, sweet potato and broccoli – it’s important to be healthy. I’ll always have a protein shake straight after I finish a training session too.

Does caffeine feature in your routine at all?

I love coffee – I love the taste of it, and I love travelling around the world and trying different types of coffee. The burst of energy it provides is great too; I really enjoy that buzz. Manchester (where I live) is one of the best places in the UK for coffee, so I’m surrounded by it.

Do you drink alcohol at all?

I don’t really drink alcohol – only on very special occasions. I’ve never been a big drinker. I’ll sometimes have the odd glass of wine or champagne at an event, but when I’m in training mode, I won’t touch it. As this is an Olympic year, I haven’t touched alcohol at all. I’ll save any drinking for after. 

Sleep is obviously important when you’re training a lot. How much sleep do you get, and is it enough?

It’s different from one week to the next, but when I’m in a hard block of training, I try to get a minimum of eight hours. When I’m absolutely knackered, I can sleep for longer than that, but eight hours is a good rule of thumb. I tend to be in bed by 9pm most nights and then asleep by 10pm – alongside protein, sleep is one of the most important tools in my recovery kit.

It can be hard to manage your menstrual cycle when you’re training – how do you navigate that?

I actually don’t have periods. When I first got with my boyfriend and looked into the different types of contraception, I was advised to go with the Depo-Provera shot, which you get every three months. That shot stops my periods, which is handy when I’m travelling a lot and makes things easier training-wise. I feel lucky that it worked for me straight away and I haven’t had any issues.

How do you prepare before a big race?

I always make sure to have a big breakfast – something like overnight oats or porridge – because when it gets closer to the race my nerves tend to kick in and I find it hard to eat. I also do quite a bit of self-talk, so I’ll wake up and say whatever I need to say to get me in the right headspace (I’ll keep exactly what I say to myself just in case my competitors are reading this). And to finish off my morning, I usually do a bit of stretching because you’ve got to make sure your body is ready to race. 

And what about after a race? If you win, how do you celebrate?

The first thing I want to do if I’ve been away for a long period of time competing is to go home and be with my family and my boyfriend, Brynn. What we do depends on what point of the season it is; for example, if it’s the end of the season we’ll go out for a nice dinner and maybe have a few drinks, but if I’ve still got competitions left it’s a little different. In the middle of the season, we’ll often do a debrief and maybe grab something nice to eat, but we won’t do anything crazy. The only time I really celebrate is after something big, like the Olympics.

Things don’t always go to plan. What’s been the mentally toughest moment of your career to date, and how have you dealt with it?

The injury I’m going through right now has been challenging, but before this, it was probably when I dislocated my shoulder four months out from the Tokyo Olympics. I hadn’t qualified yet and needed to go to all these races to do that, so dislocating my shoulder meant there was a lot of uncertainty about whether I’d make it to the games. That was definitely tough, but I stuck to my rehab plan and ended up coming out of the process stronger than I had been before. This time around, things are even tighter. I broke my collarbone exactly 10 weeks before the games are due to start. But I’m sticking to the plan again, and I’m confident I’m going to be back in time. Life’s not easy and there are going to be bumps along the way, but I try to embrace these moments and see them as a challenge to see how much better I can be. 

Who is your biggest inspiration in BMX racing?

For me, it’s Mariana Pajón – she’s a three-time medalist at the Olympics (two times gold, one time silver), as well as a multi-time World Champion. But she’s also such an amazing role model. She always gives her time to people and works with fantastic charities. And when things don’t go well for her, she handles herself so well – she’ll never show that she’s feeling angry or frustrated. I’ve looked up to her since I was a little girl and tried to model myself and my actions after her.

If you could give one piece of advice to an amateur BMX racer looking to improve, what would it be?

Just keep going out and having a good time. BMX is such a fun sport – it pushes your limits and makes you feel amazing. The best thing to do is start by setting yourself small goals and working your way up. 

Images: Getty