Buchanan’s Roberts preparing for Tokyo
BUCHANAN — Heading into her senior year of high school, Buchanan’s Hannah Roberts has a lot on her plate.
Besides the rigors of attending class and getting ready to graduate next June, Roberts also had to balance her time being an up-and-coming BMX bike star, who has her eyes set on the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
Roberts has been around the world competing in national and international events, but the 16-year-old is hoping that the Tokyo Games will be the defining moment for women in the sport.
“We are in for the 2020 Olympics, we just have to wait to find out who is going,” Roberts said. “Right now, it looks pretty good for me. I am the No. 1 hopeful for the U.S. But depending on how well we do at the World Championships, we might be able to send two competitors. That would be cool.”
With the upcoming World Championships, her senior year of high school and a whirlwind of training upcoming to prepare for the Olympics, Roberts has had a lower profile this past summer.
“This summer has been really relaxed,” she said. “The only thing I really traveled to was to East Edmonton (Canada). Other than that, I got a job babysitting because I was going to get bored.”
Boring is no way to describe the life Roberts has been leading as one of USA Cycling’s top prospects.
It is not easy for women in the sport of cycling because much like their counterparts in soccer and hockey, they do not receive the same respect that the men do or the same compensation for competing on the world stage.
Robert is hoping that the 2020 Tokyo Games can help change all that.
“Nobody has really taken this side of the sport as seriously as the guys,” she said. “Companies were not really supporting women. It is super expensive to travel to all these countries to compete. We still don’t get equal pay because obviously we are not up there with the guys. Not a lot of girls are up their doing backflip tricks like the guys. A lot of the girls have to have other jobs because so they cannot spend all their time training like the guys.”
So, what will it take to get on the same level?
“Obviously, we need to get more women on bikes,” Roberts said. “We need to get more people behind these women. USA Cycling is doing a really good job with equality. Starting next year, depending who is on the team, we are all going to start getting the same checks no matter if you are a guy or a girl. It just matters where you place. It is more about your riding style than whether or not you are a guy or a girl.”
Traveling the world competing makes for some challenges back at home at Buchanan High School. But Roberts knows she has been very fortunate to have the support of her entire community, as well as the administrators and teachers at the high school.
“I will miss the first three weeks of the year,” she said. “I am lucky to have the teachers and the school behind me. They are really helping this year and they helped a lot last year too.”
Buchanan is no strangers to bike riders, although it is more famous for those who ride motorized bikes.
But Roberts did not get into BMX bikes because of RedBud.
“I just wanted to do something different,” she said. “My dad does not like dirt bikes, so I picked up a BMX bike and I really enjoyed it, so I stuck with it.”
And although she has not climbed on a dirt bike and hit the red clay at RedBud, the thought has crossed her mind.
“But my dad does not know that yet,” she said.
It was actually Roberts’ cousin, Brett Banasiewicz, who was one of the top riders in the United States in 2011, who gave her a place to hone her craft.
Eight years ago, Banasiewicz opened up Kitchen BMX Skatepark in South Bend and a career was launched.
Roberts said she would love to bring a big competition closer to home so that everyone could get a chance to see how exciting the sport really is.
“We have started talking about it,” she said. “In 2019, USA Cycling is going to start doing national events. Right now, the only ones that we have talked about are going to be in California. But we talk about bringing it closer and taking it everywhere throughout the U.S.”
Between now and the selection of the Olympic team, Roberts will be competing in the VANS World Championships in Malaga, Spain Sept. 22-23.
Roberts is the defending champion.
Following that, she will continue training.
“I need to get my body and my mind in the place where it needs to be,” Roberts said.