The pumptrack queen
- Hallingdal Rides
- 24 Aug. 2022
- 2 min reading
- Annika Pettersen has totally dominated Norwegian pumptrack competitions over the last couple of years. In fact, she's undefeated in a Norwegian pumptrack so far! We took Norway's BMX and pumptrack queen out on the freshest asphalt in Hallingdal's newest and largest pumptrack, and tested her trail biking skills on Høgevarde's brand new gravel trail "Forkbeard"...
From the pumptrack at Gol to the dream of the Olympics
Let's turn the clock back to July 2020. Hallingdal had just launched Norway's first pumptrack series and for the second round at Gol, the name "Annika Pettersens" appeared on the participant list. After a slightly rough qualifying run, Pettersen left her mark on the asphalt when she crushed her competitors in the final.
Since then, the BMX rider from Gressvik hasn't put a tire wrong on the pumptrack. The competition in Gol was Annika Pettersen's first in pumptrack and it laid the foundation for a unique winning streak: As many as 9 victories have been achieved in the Hallingdal series. In 2021, she cruised in as the overall winner of Norway's first national pumptrack series, "Norwegian Pumptrack Series", and in June 2022 Pettersen won Norway's first ever pumptrack championship. Annika Pettersen is so far in her career undefeated in a Norwegian pumptrack competition!
Annika Pettersen is so far in her career undefeated in a Norwegian pumptrack competition!
Her success "on home soil" brought her to the 2021 Pumptrack World Championships in Portugal. The competitors were a star-studded line-up of cycling idols from her youth. According to Pettersen herself, it was "really just surreal the whole thing". Finally, she was matched on speed and ferocity - and the end result was an overall 20th place. For Pettersen, this was a rare occasion when the results in the pumptrack did not match the goal. But the experience was rewarding and now Norway's greatest BMX and pumptrack talent is dreaming of possible Olympic participation in both sports!
On new trails in Hallingdal
Annika Pettersen is a study in speed, effort and style. We at Hallingdal Rides are huge fans! After 9 victories in the Hallingdal Pumptrack Series, we felt it was time to get to know the person behind the helmet a little better.
We at Hallingdal Rides are huge fans!
In the video above, you can see how it went when we invited Annika Pettersen to Hallingdal to test the dew-fresh pumptrack on Turufjell and the newly opened flow trail "Forkbeard" at Høgevarde. We wanted to know more about Pettersen's path to the top, what it's like to be a girl in a boy-dominated sport - and whether raw pumptrack skills also make you a better trail cyclist...
Annika's top results:
BMX:
1st place in European Cup round (2019)
3 x 2nd place in European Cup round (2017 and 2019)
10th place overall in the European Cup (2019)
Nordic champion (2019)
2 times official Norwegian champion (2021 and 2022)
Multiple times youth champion (Period 2017-2020)
Pumptrack:
20th place in the World Cup (2021)
First ever official Norwegian champion (2021 - Same day as NM BMX so there were two Norwegian champion titles in one day!)
Overall winner Norwegian Pumptrack Series (2021)
Won all rounds in Hallingdal Pumptrack Series she has competed in (9 times so far in the period 2020-22.)
Photo and video: @hallingdalrides / Lars Storheim
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