Sarah Louise Walker (born 10 July 1988) is a New Zealand BMX racer. A competitor at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, she won silver in the Women's BMX at the latter event. Missing out on selection for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

due to injury, she was elected onto the

IOC Athletes' Commission International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission (IOC AC) is a majority elected body that serves as a link between athletes and the IOC. The mission of the IOC AC is to ensure that athletes' viewpoint remains at the heart of the Olympic Moveme ...

during those Games. In 2022, she was elected as its second vice-chair.

Early life

Walker was born in

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...

in the Bay of Plenty, and grew up in nearby

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distr ...

. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and European descent, she attended Kawerau South School and

Trident High School Trident High School is a state coeducational secondary school located in Whakatāne, New Zealand. The school opened in February 1973 as the town's second secondary school, alongside Whakatane High School. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), ...

in Whakatāne.

BMX career

Walker took up BMX due to sibling rivalry; she wanted to be able to do what her younger brother could do, and do it better than him. In the 2008 season

UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

Rounds, Walker won seven races, came second in one race and didn't race two races. She was ranked number one in the world by the UCI in 2008, and was one of the favourites to win the BMX women's event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, in the end she finished fourth. Walker has won a total of twelve New Zealand 20" titles from 1999 to 2011. On 25 July 2009, Walker won the BMX World Championship in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia in both the Elite Women and the Elite Cruiser Women events. At the 2010 BMX World Championship in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Walker finished second in the Elite Women's event, with first place going to

Shanaze Reade Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988 in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom) is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships th ...

. A crash during the Elite Cruiser event meant that Walker was not able hold on to her 2009 championship title. In 2011, Walker made the podium in three out of four World Cup events to win the overall World Cup title, winning the Papendal Supercross in the Netherlands, second at the Test Event in London and third in South Africa. The fourth event was in USA where she finished sixth. At the 2012 Supercross in Norway, Walker dislocated her shoulder, which almost put her out of contention for the Olympics in London. After six weeks, she had to qualify for the Olympics at the World Championships in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England where she did so with a fifth place in the semi-final. At the September 2014 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup race in California, Walker had a fall and suffered a serious head injury. Whilst her helmet cam recorded her calmly giving detailed accounts to medical staff of what happened to her, she has no recollection of the entire day. She had daily headaches for the next six weeks, and it was five months before she received medical clearance. As of February 2016, Walker has experienced a total of 15 fractures during her BMX career. As well as competing in BMX events around the world, Walker has also been the marketing face for Beef + Lamb New Zealand since 2008. She is a sponsored rider for Avanti Bikes, using their line of ABD BMX bikes when racing.

Olympic career

Walker wanted to become an Olympic athlete ever since watching New Zealand swimmer

Danyon Loader Danyon Joseph Loader (born 21 April 1975) is an Olympic champion, former world record holder swimmer from New Zealand, based in Dunedin. He remains the national record holder in the 400 metre freestyle short course. He swam for New Zealand a ...

receiving his gold medals at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. She was about to start track cycling and quit BMX when it was announced as an Olympic sport for the

, and this was the first Games she attended, competing in the women's BMX. In the medals race, she ran a time of 38.805, finishing fourth. In the same

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

at the

she got a silver medal, with a time of 38.644. She missed being nominated for the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

due to breaking her arm during training in February 2016. During the Rio Games, it was announced that she had been elected onto the

; whilst initially missing out to

Yelena Isinbayeva Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva ( rus, Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева, p=jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 200 ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former foil fencer, and Olympic gold medalist. He has served as the ninth president of the International Olympic Committee since 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected to tha ...

proposed that Walker be added to the group.

Sponsorship and advertising work

Walker is an ambassador for Beef and Lamb New Zealand, alongside other athlete ambassadors

Lisa Carrington Dame Lisa Marie Carrington (born 23 June 1989) is a flatwater canoeist and New Zealand's most successful Olympian, having won a total of eight gold medals and one bronze medal. She won three consecutive gold medals in the Women's K1 200metres ...

, Eliza McCartney and

Sophie Pascoe Dame Sophie Frances Pascoe (born 8 January 1993) is a retired New Zealand para-swimmer. She represented New Zealand at four Summer Paralympic Games from 2008, winning a total of eleven gold medals, seven silver medals and one bronze medal, m ...

Honours and awards

In the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours, Walker was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to BMX and sports governance.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Sarah 1988 births Living people Female BMX riders New Zealand female cyclists Olympic cyclists for New Zealand Olympic silver medalists in cycling Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics UCI BMX World Champions (elite women) Sportspeople from Whakatāne People educated at Trident High School New Zealand International Olympic Committee members 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit