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Lauren Reynolds

Lauren Reynolds

Age

32

Place of Birth

WA

Hometown

Bunbury WA

Junior Club

Bunbury BMX Club

Senior Club

Chula Vista elite athlete training center

Coach

Sam Willoughby

Olympic History

London 2012

Rio 2016

Tokyo 2020

High School

Bunbury catholic college

Career Events

BMX Racing Womens Race

Womens Individual

 

Lauren's Story

Fast Facts

Sport: Cycling
Event: BMX Racing
Olympic History: London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Highlights: Silver at the 2013 World Championships 
Year Born: 1991
State Born: WA

About Lauren

A fearless Lauren Reynolds began BMX racing at just nine-years-old at the Bunbury BMX club. The talented athlete was also a competitive basketball player, however, once the IOC announced BMX on the 2008 Olympic program she decided to focus solely on racing.   

Holding scholarships at both the Western Australia Institute of Sport and Queensland Academy of Sport throughout her career, Lauren made her debut Olympics in London 2012. 

Leading into London Lauren was ranked in the top ten in the world, coming off the back of a bronze medal at the test event. She qualified ninth fastest in the seeding run and after finishing 6th and 5th in her opening two semi-final races, a crash in her final run saw her knocked out to finish 15th overall.  

A strong 2015 saw Reynolds win the Oceania Championships, finish fifth at the World Championships and claim three top eight finishes in World Cup events including a third in Sweden. 

At the end of the year Reynolds had a chance to see the 2016 Games track first hand at the Rio test event where she claimed a fourth place finish. 

After making the final of the 2016 World Championships, where she finished eighth, she headed to her second Games in Rio. She lined up alongside fellow Aussie Caroline Buchanan in her semi-final in Rio as she finished 7th, 6th and 4th in the three races to miss out on the final and claim 11th overall. 

In 2017 Lauren linked up with London Olympic medallist Sam Willoughby as coach and they set up a three-year plan leading into Tokyo. Lauren now divides time between her WA home and San Diego’s Chula Vista elite athlete training centre.

At the 2020 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup held in Shepparton, the 29-year-old achieved two top-6 finishes, qualifying her a spot on her third Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021.

Reynolds produced a strong showing in Tokyo by equalling Australia’s best ever result in women’s Olympic BMX racing when she placed fifth in the final.

Competing in her third Games after wearing the green and gold in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, Reynolds delivered three consistent runs in her heat to move through to the semi finals.

That was where her experienced showed when the 29-year-old from Western Australia fought back from a crash and seventh place in the opening run to finish second and third in the next two and book her spot in the final.

Reynolds drew the inside gate in the race for gold and made a good start before losing touch with her rivals after the first corner. But she finished strongly and made up some late ground to cross the line in fifth place which equalled Caroline Buchanan’s fifth-place finish for Australia the final in London.

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