Mia Ayats, 11 years old, was able to fulfill her dream: compete in the BMX World Championship – the most explosive discipline in cycling – in the United States, and defend her crown achieved a year earlier in Glasgow. The young rider from Altafulla (Tarragona) did not retain the crown, she came second in the final held in Rock Hill (South Carolina), but she made her goal of attending the world finals in the mecca of BMX a reality, thanks to the popular support of through a crowdfunding campaign promoted by his father.
The case of Mia Ayats came to light last March, when her father, Marc Ayats, denounced the lack of help that the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) gave him to attend the Rock Hill World Cup to defend his crown on behalf of Spain. So the father organized a donation campaign to be able to pay for his daughter’s trip and accommodation to the United States: she succeeded.
The popular response was massive, greater than Marc Ayats expected. In just three months he was able to raise 5,867 euros (he needed 5,000 for expenses) in a total of 104 donations.
Trained by Alfred Moreno, Mia Ayats’ participation in the Rock Hill World Championship, the mecca of BMX, has been excellent: she achieved first position in the three preliminary heats, was also first in the quarterfinals, and also won her semifinal after a heroic comeback, and in the final she placed second, only beaten by the American Malia Álvarez by 1.5 seconds.
One of Mia’s special moments, in addition to the experience of the finals in Rock Hill, was her time in New York, where she was surprised to see herself in one of the illuminated advertisements in Times Square (as can be seen on her Instagram account). .
For Mia Ayats, it is the third world final in three years. In Nantes 2022 she was sixth, last year in Glasgow she won gold, and this time, in the USA, she is runner-up. She was also European champion in 2023 in Besançon, as well as three-time Spanish champion. Next weekend she will participate in the European Championships in Italy.
The Spanish Cycling Federation has once again ignored Mia Ayats’ participation in the US World Cup, even though she was the only Spaniard in the Girls 11 category among the 63 participants. Mia’s silver in the final does not exist on the official website of the Federation nor on social networks, where the participation of eight Spanish cyclists in the same World Cup in junior, sub-23 and elite categories is simply mentioned.
Consulted by La Vanguardia, the Federation does not consider itself responsible for athletes under 16 years of age, even if they have a federation license. “At the level of teams and UCI competitions, the Federation’s calls are made from the junior category, with 16-17 years old,” explained Carlos Faba, head of communications for the RFEC.
“Below that age (16), there are no calls, neither in Spain, nor in France nor in any country. In fact, the UCI does not organize world championships for minors, with the exception of BMX, in which there are championships for 5-6 year old categories.” An exceptionality that is not shared by the Federation, which doubts “to what extent” competitions for children aged 10-11 are relevant.