| “My passion is more about the governance, this is what challenges me and drives me.” |
| I’m the director of the FIM Women’s Commission. I’m actually a former athlete and come from a winter sports background – bobsled and skeleton – so I think that adrenaline in my blood was always pushing me forward. While studying at sports university I had the chance to attend an MX World Cup round where my friend was competing, and I fell in love with the paddock. I just knew I wanted to be part of it. I gradually got more involved, volunteering to be secretary for the motocross commission, and then, step by step, I collaborated at European level and then with the FIM. It’s been 18 years already! It’s funny, because I never had a plan. All I knew is that I didn’t want to be a teacher, because I come from a family of teachers. Fortunately, I had a fantastic professor at university who led a module in sports governance, and thanks to her I just fell in love with the subject. I also had coaching certifications, but I realised my passion is more about the governance, the administration, this is what challenges me and drives me.  Overcoming the early challenges At first, as a young member of a commission, it was already a huge challenge to be accepted. The FIM Motocross Commission was a group of about 30, nearly all men, just two women. The biggest challenge for me initially had to do with decision making. Sometimes my duties were to go and inspect the tracks before the World Championships and in the very beginning, I found my every statement or comment was being second-guessed. I felt somehow that had my male colleague said the same thing, it would have been immediately accepted as fact, but coming from me, it was kind of like, are you sure? I accepted this though, and told myself, “OK, I want to be here, and I will prove myself”. And it soon stopped. As soon as you demonstrate your knowledge and prove that you’re not there to fill a quota but because of your expertise, experience, knowledge, then it’s fine.  Juggling motherhood and motorsport I met my husband, who was also a motocross racer back in the day, and inevitably we got pregnant. I immediately questioned how I would manage things; I had no idea. Fortunately, my husband was super supportive, my mum too. I remember receiving a request to assist with a project and telling them that I couldn’t help because I’d just given birth a month earlier. But my husband reassured me that between the two of us, we could manage. I realised he was right. And that was the answer. If you have the right people standing next to you who support what you do, then anything’s possible, you just need to properly plan everything. So, I schedule my appointments each year before the season starts, for example. There is not one recipe for making your situation work, but in this world, your job needs to be your passion. My son is nine, my daughter five. They know what mum is doing and have come with me to events. My eldest child already understands when he can be there, when he can’t, and knows that if I can bring him along, I will. He doesn’t ride bikes. He thinks he can only race bikes once he’s as old as his daddy, and I haven’t corrected him for now!  Taking a leap of faith… I jumped fully out of my comfort zone when I started focusing on motocross, and now I have fourteen other disciplines. And I came from bobsled which was very different again! 2023 propelled me into a whole new world. When it came to meeting everyone for the first time as the new director for the Women’s Commission, I think my knowledge on the technical side helped me to break the ice and be accepted. I also think it’s important not to be afraid. The first time I was interviewed about circuit racing, there were some questions that I wasn’t yet able to answer. I basically said, “Look, I’ll get back to you on that”. Sometimes the best thing we can do is be honest and admit that we don’t know. Sometimes we are scared, especially as women perhaps, when we don’t immediately have the answer. But as one of the former commission directors told me, always fact check and be sure before providing a response. The work of the Commission The Women’s Commission advocates for women in our sport. We liaise with governing bodies like the National Federations and Commissions and work to promote diversity, inclusion, equality and equity for women competing in motorsport and also for women in sports governance and leadership roles. The FIM has existed for 120 years, but women only started being involved in motorcycling in the late 20th century. We are moving forward though perhaps not as quickly as we would all like. We work to encourage national federations to nominate more women to leadership positions, and we also cooperate closely with our sporting commissions, because ultimately the goal is that this commission cease to exist as a separate body, and just be part of the other existing commissions, which would truly demonstrate that inclusion exists. WorldWCR, from scepticism to spectacle WorldWCR is a real milestone, and the outcome has been brilliant, exceeding all expectations. Especially on the media side, where I think there was some initial scepticism. Every race has brought a battle to the line – the final race of the 2024 season still gives me goosebumps! I think this already proves it was the right time. There’s finally a place for these women riders to compete together, same race, same equipment, same track… Moving forward, we need to ensure that riders coming to WorldWCR are really ready to take part in this championship rather than another series to which they might be better suited. This is the challenging part. To do it, we need to work actively with the National Federations. We already have a European Championship, which is like a stepping stone to the World Championship, and there are competitions in Latin America, Asia and Oceania, but we need to ensure that each championship is of equal quality and similar standard. And then ultimately, we need to see how the world championship evolves over several years, whether it continues to grow or if there is a natural stopping point. Greatest achievement Of course, the WorldWCR championship is the biggest achievement in general, but that’s not my achievement, it’s the result of hard work by many different actors in the game. Personally speaking, I think the biggest achievement is when you can really help someone. I love being in a position to encourage someone by using myself as an example. I’ve had conversations with people who tell me they don’t think they’re ready for this or can’t handle that. And I tell them, look, I basically started as a spectator in the paddock. When I was young, I didn’t have somebody like me, pushing me and encouraging me. So now I want to help others to feel that they are not alone. By showing them that you were in the same position, you encourage them. You inspire them. I think that’s really something I can see myself doing more of in the future. |
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