Olympic medalist Freestyle BMX Rider Nikita Ducarroz on Paris 2024 and managing anxiety

On Topic, Off Script host, journalist Brian Mastroianni, sits down with freestyle BMX rider Nikita Ducarroz.

A trailblazing athlete, Nikita won bronze in Tokyo 2020, the year that BMX Freestyle made its debut at the Olympics. She had a somewhat unconventional path to the sport — one of the top female freestyle BMX riders in the world, Nikita says soccer was her first love growing up, but that all changed when she developed what she describes as crippling anxiety in her teens. School and soccer became hard, but then...enter BMX. 

She discovered the sport in 2010, practicing in the driveway and then to the local skatepark where she says she didn’t meet another female biker for three years. She went pro in 2016 and the rest is history. 

While BMX is her passion, Nikita is an outspoken mental health advocate, she co-founded M1ndTricks, a platform on social media for athletes that connects them to one another and gives them the opportunity to speak about mental health. You can follow that on Instagram, 

Now, she’s preparing to make her Olympics return -- from May to June she’ll be competing in the Olympic Qualifier Series as she rides down the road to Paris 2024. 

Brian caught up with Nikita, a Red Bull athlete, earlier this year in New York as part of the Red Bull Olympic media tour, where she discussed how she works through her anxiety, M1ndTricks, the upcoming Paris Games, and advice she has for all of us when navigating our own mental health. 

Nikita Ducarroz's socials: Instagram, Facebook, M1ndTricks, Blog

Music: The Right Direction by Shane Ivers - ⁠⁠https://www.silvermansound.com⁠⁠

Logo: ⁠⁠David J. Martin⁠⁠

For more info on host, journalist Brian Mastroianni:

⁠⁠brianmastroianni.com⁠⁠

IG: ⁠⁠@bmastroianni