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Quantum jumps over the box
By xsportsisters

The female riders at last weekends BMX Worlds in Cologne showed exactly how fast Womens BMX is growing -- with tricks like Flairs, Frontflips, Tailwhips and lots of Style.

The audience witnessed a huge step forward for Womens BMX, while observing all the riders going as high as they possibly could, giving their all during the runs. This years contest was not the biggest but certainly one of the best competition we've seen so far.
Wallride Vanessa Gerner_Schollefoto.de

All riders in the first heat already gave a good impression, with even more and better riding to come. First off was UK rider Tess Hayward, who's first run made a nervous impression. But she really made up for it in a powerful second run with a no-hander on the box and a barspin out of the quarter. Johanna Marmont from France was up next and gave her all while getting high up on the wallride to hit the box over and over attempting 360′s and no-handers until she lost her breath. Katherine Diaz' run was an explosion of energy as she flew over the course with a big smile. Making the other girls a bit more nervous after a pretty much flawless run showing off her mini ramp skills, throwing tailwhips and more. Then came along a big-little surprise named Luzie Ronkholz, the 11 year old bmx talent from Cologne. The public really had a thing for her and cheered loudly as she E.T.'d over the boxjump and landed other tricks including a no footed can can and disaster on the quarter.

In the second and third heat riders Mini Park, Shanice Silva Cruz, Rebecca Berg, Vanessa Gerner, Lara Lessmann and Banu Tekir also contributed to a great contest. Shanice not so much by her run but by landing a frontflip as her last trick. And Rebecca Berg finally landing that Abubakar on the spine she'd been dying to land during a contest. Another local surprise was Banu Tekir who, after she overwon her nerves, showed she had some bowl & miniramp skills up her sleeve and even pulled off a Fufanu on the box's edge.

The queen of the contest however was undoubtedly Camilla Harambour, who once again confirmed that girls skills can get pretty close to any guys'. The second place was reserved for Katherine Diaz and third place was rewarded to Lara Lessmann from Flensburg for her smooth style.

In the end 13 girls competed on a sunny afternoon in Cologne, some well known names but also a lot of new German talent making their first steps into the competitive world of girls' bmx; Julia Köpke, Madita Thüs and Luzie Ronkholz. And also a few new international names we hadn't seen at the BMX Worlds before; Tess Hayward, Joanna Marmont and Katharine Diaz.

A bit underrepresented were the Flatland ladies, as only 2 girls actually competed. Aleks Neumüller (2nd) from Luxemburg and Samatha Stähli (1st) from Switzerland battled in Jam format for the title.

This contest was again proof that Girls Freestyle BMX is growing rapidly these days and these ladies are taking it to a another level thanks to competitions & supportive organizations like the BMX Worlds and sites like Yeah Zine. We hope to see even more of them next year, at the BMX Worlds 2014!
Johanna Marmont_Schollefoto.de

Girls Park Final Results

1 Camila Harambour [Chile]
2 Katherine Diaz [Venezuela]
3 Lara Lessmann [Germany]
4 Shanice Silva Cruz [Netherlands]
5 Mini Park [South Korea]
6 Johanna Marmont [France]
7 Rebecca Berg [Germany]
8 Banu Tekir [Germany]
9 Tess Hayward [England]
10 Vanessa Gerner [Germany]
11 Madita Thüs [Germany]
12 Julia Köpke [Germany]
13 Luzie Ronkholz [Germany]