Rachel Atherton
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Salisbury, England, United Kingdom
 Rachel Atherton in August 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Rachel Laura Atherton |
| Nickname | Waynehead |
| Born | 6 December 1987 Salisbury, England, United Kingdom |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Atherton Racing |
| Discipline | BMX & MTB |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | DH |
| Professional teams | |
| 2007–2011 | Animal Commençal |
| 2011–2015 | GT |
| 2015–2018 | Trek Factory Racing |
| 2018– | Atherton Bikes |
| Major wins | |
| DH World Champion (x5) DH World Cup (x6 overall, 40 rounds) DH European Champion DH National Champion (x6) DH Junior World Champion DH Junior European Champion | |
Medal record | |
Rachel Laura Atherton (born 6 December 1987) is a British professional downhill mountain bike racer, and is a multiple time UCI World Champion.
Atherton began riding BMX at the age of 8 and mountain biking at the age of 11.[1] She was both Sunday Times' Sportswoman of the Year[2] and BBC Midlands Junior Sportswoman of the Year[3] in 2005, and then BBC Midlands Sportswoman of the Year in 2008.[4] In October 2015, a video of Atherton overtaking 91 competitors in five minutes during a race went viral.[5]
For 5 years from 2007, Atherton was part of the Animal Commençal race team along with brothers Dan Atherton and Gee Atherton. In 2012, Atherton, along with her brothers Dan, Gee and Marc Beaumont, signed with GT Bicycles. In 2015, Atherton and her brothers signed with Trek Bicycle Corporation to race for Trek Atherton Racing.[6]
In June 2008 Atherton became the first British woman to win the Elite UCI Downhill World Championship, defeating second placed Sabrina Jonnier by 11.99 seconds in the final.[7]
Atherton was involved in a collision with a pickup truck whilst on a time trial training ride with her brothers Dan and Gee in Santa Cruz, California, on 18 January 2009.[8] She sustained a dislocated shoulder which, after later needing a nerve graft,[9] ruled her out of the 2009 racing season, including the September World Championships in Canberra.[10]
In September 2012, Atherton took the final World Cup round on a diverse and testing Norwegian track and clinched the overall title, despite missing the opening race of the season. The Norwegian race was the final round of a seven-round series in which Atherton claimed a win in 5 of the 6 events she raced.
In June 2016, Atherton became the first woman to win 10 consecutive rounds of the World Cup, surpassing the record previously held by Anne-Caroline Chausson.[11] In September that same year, she also achieved the unprecedented feat of winning every round in a World Cup season.[12]
In 2019, Atherton suffered an injury to her Achilles tendon during a practice session, necessitating a prolonged period of recovery that sidelined her for the entirety of the 2020 season opener.[13]
In 2023, Atherton made a comeback to competitive riding at the UCI Downhill World Cup in Lenzerheide, clinching the first-place victory.[14]
