Arielle Martin BMX Biker Olympics 2012
>>Arielle: My name is Arielle Martin, I’m from Cedarhills Utah and I race BMX bikes.
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>>Arielle: I started racing in 1990, I was 5 years old, got my first race bike for my
5th birthday.
My dad raced in the late ‘80s just recreationally in Utah for fun.
I grew up going to the BMX track.
The story goes I was off training I was 2 and a half.
I don’t remember not being on a bike it’s always been a part of my life.
>>Arielle: I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family, without their support.
My dad introduced me to the sport he was always there forming mechanically he runs a bike
shop.
The bikes were a big part of the family growing up.
He taught me when I was just 12 years old how to disassemble my bike and put it back
together but it was really my mom who helped drive my career and the competitions.
She drove me all over the country from the time I was 10 on to these national events.
She is still today my biggest fan, my biggest supporter, she loves this sport, I definitely
get my competitive drive from her.
I got married in 2006 in December to my husband Mike.
He’s from the army.
We spent our first year together then he deployed immediately to Afghanistan in 2008 for a full
year.
It was a full 12 months.
I was training for Beijing, we didn’t see each other for 10 months that was pretty tough
to be married for a year and then almost apart for a year.
Obviously the dangers involved with what he does I was very concerned but at the end of
the day I think it all makes up for it knowing that when we’re together we maximize that
time and he claims he gets more terrified for what I do than what I should be for what
he does.
So the danger element he thinks is fairly equal, I disagree obviously.
Professionally, I think I hit rock bottom in a way when I lost that spot on the team.
I couldn’t imagine prior to that it could feel as terrible as it did initially.
I had such mixed emotions about it because Jill was a personal friend of mine and we’d
grown pretty close over the last few months training together.
When it all happened, we thought we were both going, and she initially didn’t know and
she came running up to me saying “we’re going to Beijing, we’re going to Beijing”
and I had to be the one to tell her I was like “no, you’re going” and we cried
a little bit together because it was hard.
When that phone call came and she asked me to come back to help her train for Beijing,
it was a lot of mixed emotions.
On one hand I saw that spot as mine that she was taking and on the other hand I was like
you know she didn’t do anything malicious it wasn’t like she did anything wrong.
I was the one that lost the second position and my own first spot on the team by my crash.
Those days weren’t easy coming out here and training, some days we’d get into little
tiffs.
I remember her one time sitting me down just angry because I kind of stomped on her a little
bit in practice and she said “don’t you know how hard it is for me knowing that I’m
going to Beijing and you’re beating me every day out here in training?”
and I looked at her and I was like “don’t you know how hard it is for me knowing that
you’re going?”
We had these kinds of banters but I consider her one of my best friends today.
We’re very close we communicate very regularly and she’s doing everything she can to help
me ensure that I’m going to get to London.
Mentally I think the preparation started at a really young age.
I had these wonderful uncles that are just a few years older than me, my mom was the
oldest of 6 so by the time I came around my uncles were only 4 years older than I am.
They were big brothers to me and they were tough on me when I was younger, teaching me
to be tough, to not be a sissy and that mental toughness part kind of came along with that.
They taught me at a young age that just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I cant do anything
and I really carried that mentality with me throughout my career as I got older that if
there’s a big jump that the boys are jumping, I can do it, I’m a girl, who cares?
The fact that I’m a girl shouldn’t change my ability out there to perform on the track.
My goal is to be on that podium in London.
I’m not afraid to say that I feel like I am a metal contender.
I’d love to be up on that podium representing my country, hearing my national anthem.
I’m very proud to be an American, very proud, and I’m proud of our country and there’s
nothing that I could see as greater than to be able to be under those Olympic rings with
my flag and my anthem playing in London.