Alise Willoughby

Alise Willoughby
OLY

Personal information
Full name	Alise Rose Willoughby[1]
Nickname	"The Beast"
Born	Alise Rose Post (1991-01-17) January 17, 1991 (age 33) St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.
Height	5 ft 2 in (158 cm)
Weight	117 lb (53 kg)
Team information
Current team	Daylight Cycles / Toyota
Discipline	Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role	Rider
Amateur teams
2000	Fly
2001-2003	Staats/TBS
2003-2004	Avent/Bombshell
2004-2005	Hyper Bicycles
2005-2006	CMC Inc.
Professional teams
2006	CMC Inc.
2006-2008	Formula Bicycle/Monster Factory
2009-2016	Redline Bicycles
2017-present	GW / Toyota Daylight Cycles
Medal record Representing  United States Women's BMX racing Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 1 0 World Championships 3 3 3 World Cup 1 0 4 World Cup stage 5 12 7 Total 9 16 14 Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro BMX racing World Championships 2017 Rock Hill BMX racing 2019 Heusden-Zolder BMX racing 2024 Rock Hill BMX racing 2013 Auckland BMX time trial 2014 Rotterdam BMX racing 2015 Heusden-Zolder BMX time trial 2010 Pietermaritzburg BMX racing 2016 Medellín BMX racing 2023 Glasgow BMX racing World Cup 2020 BMX racing 2012 BMX racing 2015 BMX racing 2019 BMX racing 2024 BMX racing

Alise Rose Willoughby (née Post, born January 17, 1991) is an American professional "Current School" BMX racing racer who has been racing competitively since 2002. She uses the moniker "The Beast".^[2]

Career

Originally a state-champion gymnast, Willoughby began racing at the age of six, after watching her older brothers race.^[3]

She turned professional in 2006, at the age of 15. Her first professional race result came in April, when she placed third at the American Bicycle Association Winter Nationals.^[4] Her first professional win came just one month later, when she won the ABA Super Nationals.^[5] She was voted 2006 Rookie Pro of the Year by the readers of BMXer magazine, becoming the first female to win the title.^[6] She was also the youngest female to hold the National No.1 Pro Women's title, one of the youngest BMX racers to turn pro, one of the youngest to hold a pro title, and the first female to earn all three Girls division classifications.

In 2008, BMX Racing was added to the Olympics, but the 19 years age minimum meant Willoughby, age 17, was unable to compete.^[2]

Willoughby would go on to make her Olympic Debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics, after recovering from surgery for LCL, knee and hamstring reconstruction.^[7] She placed 12th after a crash in the semi-final.

In 2021, Willoughby suffered a crash at the 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021) and did not qualify for the final.^[8]

Major results

Amateur^[a]

American Bicycle Association

20 inch

• 1999,'00,'01,'02,'03,'04 Minnesota District 6 (MN-06) No.1
• 1999,'00,'02,'03,'04 Minnesota State Champion
• 2000,'01,'02,'03,'04 Central Region Redline Cup Champion
• 2000 9 Girls National Age Group (NAG) No.1
• 2000 9 Girls Race of Champions (ROC) Champion
• 2001 10 Girls NAG No.1
• 2002 11 Girls NAG No.1
• 2002 11 Girls ROC Champion
• 2002 11 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 2002 Girls National No.2
• 2003 12 Girls World Champion
• 2003 12 Girls NAG No.1
• 2003 12 Girls ROC Champion
• 2003 12 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 2003 Girls National No.2
• 2004 13 Girls NAG No.1
• 2004 13 Girls ROC Champion
• 2001,'04 National No.1 Girl

Cruiser

• 2000,'01,'02,'03,'04 Cruiser Minnesota District 6 (MN-06) No.1
• 2002,'03'04 Minnesota State Cruiser Champion
• 2000,'01 10 & Under Girls Cruiser Redline Cup Central Region Champion
• 2002,03,'04 11-13 Girls Cruiser Central Regional Redline Cup Champion
• 2001 10 & Under National Age Group (NAG) Girls Cruiser No.1
• 2002,'03,'04 11-13 National Age Group (NAG) Girls Cruiser No.1
• 2002,'03 Race of Champions Cruiser Champion.
• 2003,'04 National No.1 Girl Cruiser

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)

• 2001,'02,'03,'04 World Champion
• 2001,'04 Cruiser World Champion
• 2007 15-16 Girls Cruiser World Champion^[b]

Professional

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

• 2006, '07 National No.1 Pro Women

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)

• 2017, '19, '24 Elite Women World Champion

USA Cycling

• 2010 Elite Women Second Place National Champion

World Cup

• 2020 Gold Medalist
• 2012, '15, '19, '24 Bronze Medalist

World Championships

• 2017, '19, '24 Gold Medalist
• 2013, '14, '15 Silver Medalist
• 2010, '16, '23 Bronze Medalist

Olympics

• Rio 2016 Silver Medalist

Personal life

In December 2015 Sam Willoughby proposed to Alise. Sam had a training incident in 2016 that forced him to retire, after which he became Alise's coach. They were married in January 2019.^[9]

Notes

1. Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Only sanctioning bodies active during the racer's career are listed. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.
2. Although Alise Post was a pro in the ABA at the time of the 2007 UCI World Championships, under UCI rules she was too young to qualify for Elite women status.

References

1. Moto Mag January/February 2004 Vol.3 No.1 pg.20
2. "'The Beast' Rides On: Alise Willoughby's Journey Toward Paris Goes Through BMX Worlds In South Carolina". www.teamusa.com. May 14, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
3. "girlscantwhat.com January 2007 interview". Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2007.
4. "USA BMX / BMX CANADA - Nationals". www.usabmx.com. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
5. "ABA supernationals Day 2 results". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
6. bmxtra.com's listing of the ABA year end results. Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
7. "bmxnews page". Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
8. Dart, Tom (July 30, 2021). "Alise Willoughby's hopes for BMX racing gold dashed on crash-filled day". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
9. Gleeson, Scott. "Olympian Sam Willoughby was paralyzed in BMX accident. Now he coaches his wife Alise's quest for gold" (14 February 2020). USA TODAY. Retrieved August 2, 2024.

External links

• Alise Willoughby at Cycling Archives (archived)
• Alise Willoughby at CycleBase
• Alise Willoughby at UCI BMX Supercross World Cup Results
• Alise Willoughby at Olympics.com
• Alise Willoughby at Team USA (archived)
• Alise Willoughby at Team USA (archive October 28, 2022)
• The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
• The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.
• "Alise Post's 2005 interview by young fellow racer Joey Bradford". Archived from the original on July 19, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.