Cheri Elliott

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Cheri Elliott

On the Skyway Team circa 1983
Personal information
Full name	Cheri Elliott
Date of birth	April 17, 1970 (1970-04-17) (age 39)
Country	United States
Height	1.55 m (5'1" Imperial)
Weight	49.9 kg (110lbs Imperial) (1984)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role	Racer
Rider type	Off Road
Amateur team(s)1
1980-1981 1982 1983-1985 1986 1989-1990	JR Racing Boss Racing Frames Skyway Recreations Retired for 3.5 years Bicycle Center USA
Infobox last updated on:
November 4, 2008 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Cheri Elliott (b: April 17, 1970 in Citrus Heights, California) was an old school American champion female bicycle motocross (BMX) racer in the 1980s, and also a champion Downhill and Slalom mountain bike racer in the 1990s and early 2000s. During her BMX career, she spent most of her racing career on the national circuit with the Skyway Recreation factory team. Although she had a relatively short BMX career, she left a legendary impression. She is a four time national champion and four time world champion in BMX, including three consecutive National Number One girl racer titles for the ABA from 1983 through 1985. She also held the regional UBR Number one girl racer title in 1982. She was the first female racer inducted into the ABA BMX Hall of Fame in 1989, and the first female BMX racer inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2008. She could be called the female Stu Thomsen such is her stature. As is the case with Mr. Thomsen in the male amateur and professional classes, all other successful female BMX racers have been and are compared to her.

Contents 1 BMX racing career 1.1 Women's professional BMX racing 1.2 BMX retirement 1.3 Professional mountain bike racing 1.4 Post cycling career 1.5 Career BMX milestones 1.6 Career BMX factory and major bicycle shop sponsorships 1.6.1 Amateur 1.6.2 Professional 1.7 Career bicycle motocross titles 1.7.1 Amateur 1.8 Notable BMX accolades 1.9 Racing habits and traits 1.10 Notable BMX injuries 2 Post BMX career 3 Mountain Bike Racing Career 3.1 Career MTB titles 3.1.1 Amateur 3.1.2 Professional 3.2 Notable MTB accolades 3.3 Notable MTB injuries 4 BMX, mountain bike magazine and general media interviews and articles 5 BMX and MTB magazine covers 6 End Notes 7 External links

BMX racing career

Elliott's BMX career lasted from 1980 until 1986, and saw a brief comeback in 1989. From an early age, was not only dominant in the girls division of BMX (formerly called "Powder Puff"), but was usually competitive with the boys of her age groups. A well built, very athletic strawberry blond with deep dimples when she smiled and bearing a passing resemblance to then child actress Tina Yothers, Elliott was big for her age. She was approximately five feet tall in the seventh grade, making her somewhat larger than most of the boys in her class, both at Will Rodgers Intermediate Junior High School and on the BMX track. Her athletic capability that she would apply in BMX was forshadowed early. She snow skied when she was all of two years old. During her racing career she was asked while still in sixth grade and in junior high school to play first string on the Varsity Senior High School Basketball team. She helped that high school team win the championships.^[1] (She would continue pursuing other sports during and after the bulk of her BMX career after leaving the sport in 1986. Elliott was awarded "MVP" in both Basketball & Volleyball her High School Senior Year. She also played in her Freshman year in college at the University of the Pacific (UOP)). In BMX she would put this compatative spirit and ability against tough competition. When there weren't enough girls in her age group at a particular BMX race to form out a separate class, she often raced with them, winning "Motos", the qualifying heats and "Opens", the class in which was open to both male Novices and Experts and Girls where free to race each other. She would with notable frequency, make the "Mains" (the race final that would decide the winner for the day) in the boys division. Even when there were enough girls to form a class, and she did compete in the girls division, she still often participated with the boys in the United Bicycle Racers (UBR) in the 11 Expert Class, complaining that the girls where "too slow", since she dominated so completely. At a 1981 UBR National held in Laguna Seca, California, she raced in the 14 and over girls competition, despite being only 11 at the time, "because the 12 to 13 is too easy".^[2][3]

Indeed, UBR rules at the time stated that if a girl raced in the boys expert classes she could not race in the girls class. The result was she raced mostly in the boys Expert and Open class. She also frequently participated in, and sometimes won, the "Trophy Dash", the final event in which the winners of two closely related age classes and the three skill classes (Novice, Intermediate and Expert in the ABA, and Rookie, Novice and Expert in the NBL) participate in a mostly exhibition race (no points are collected that go to the ranking achieved at the end of the year). Unlike the UBR and the National Bicycle League (NBL), the American Bicycle Association (ABA) did not allow girls to compete in the boys Expert Class (they would do so beginning in 1984).^[4] They did allow her to run in the Trophy Dash and 12 and under Cruiser Class. She surprisingly often won on the local level, occasionally beating the male Experts, the highest amateur class before going professional. In the 1982 ABA Grand National she came in second in the Cruiser Class, beaten by only Danny Steplight. She also won a few Trophy Dash races on her 20 incher at national level, including at the 1983 ABA Cajun Nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana, beating Jason Griggs (see "Career BMX Milestones" below).

Not only was she a very talented BMX racer, she excelled, in comparison with other girls, in Quarter Pipe BMX freestyle trick riding, which was unusual at the time for a girl. She was also one of the few girls at the time that could do a "Table Top", in which the rider after launching herself high into the air off a steep ramp or ramp-like dirt berm lays the frame of her bike parallel with the ground with feet still on the pedals (or one foot off or no feet in variations) while sailing through the air in the direction of travel and righting the bike again before landing. This is sometimes done by racers during a race to give a little flair.

Despite her dominance in girls BMX, it was a relatively short career, only six years. Elliott retired from 20" racing early in the 1986 season, right after the ABA Supernationals which were held on January 26 & 27. The reason she gave was "I did all I wanted to do. I wanted to quit last year (1985), but I thought about getting ABA #1 two years in a row. And I did it; that was my goal."^[5] (Ms. Elliot misspoke about-or BMX Action misprinted-the number of consecutive No.1 plates she was going for. It was three years in a row, not two.) She also wanted to pursue and concentrate on sports in school, like her favorite, Basketball. This is apparently in addition to the fact Skyway Recreations, the factory racing team that sponsored her, dropped their racing team after the 1985 racing season. Indeed, that was what she reportedly told BMX Plus! in their June 1986 issue.^[6] Some have said that she did not want to shop around for a Bicycle manufacturer to sponsor her because they were, in effect, not hiring. The year 1986 was known to racers as the "The year of no sponsorships" due to some bicycle manufactures who sponsored racing teams like Torker and JMC going out of business in part to low cost Asian imports. An even stronger factor was the paring back of race teams such as the one sponsored by Diamond Back and Redline or, like Skyway, dropping them all together in favor of either creating BMX Freestyle teams or expanding pre-existing ones. As a result, many notable talented racers on both the amateur and professional levels like Matt Hadan, Danny Millwe, Scott Clark, Tommy Brackens and Toby Henderson went for extended periods of times without factory team sponsorship. Even the great Stu Thomsen was forced into retirement after he failed to land a sponsor for the 1987 season. These BMX "layoffs" were in response to the rise of BMX Freestyle trick riding in the mid 1980s' a part of the sport that was created in 1979. This and the resurgence of skateboarding is said to partly responsible for the decline in BMX racing from the late 1980s until its rekindled popularity starting in 1995. She did race one national in 1986, the ABA Supernationals in late January,^[7] all sponsorless. With her apparently reading the writing on the wall, some believe as the BMX periodical BMX Action put it she "...decided it was easier to just quit the sport while on top than shop for a ride."^[8] Somewhat ironically, in 1996 she would co-author a book called The Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship during her subsequent Mountain Bike racing career.

Women's professional BMX racing

NBL introduced the girls pro class for the 1985 season and would continue it through the 1987 season. Cheri never did turn pro because she retired at age 15 when the minimum required age to turn pro was 16; although she did express interest in there being a pro class: "There needs to be a pro class for the girls so we will have more interest in the sport."^[9] She was happy when the NBL's Competition Congress authorized a pro girls class in late 1984: "I think it's great that they finally passed it... Now girls will have something to stay in the sport for."^[10] When the pro Girls class started at the beginning of the 1985 season the requirement was for only girls 16 years and older.^[11] She would still only be 15 years old on April 17, 1985. A year after that date she would have been eligible and the pro girls would exist for another season an a half. It is not as if she was uncomfortable with the NBL. Although most of her fame came in the ABA with her three consecutive National No.1 girl titles, she had raced and even earned an NBL age class national No.1 girl in 1984. Unfortunately, the difficulties of talented racers getting factory rides at the time prompted her retirement.

Another factor could had been sheer burn out. She was just ready to retire. As she put it in an interview with her modern day counter part Jill Kintner on her blog:

"When I retired from BMX in 1985, (sic) I was ready to go live a normal teenager life. I had been racing since 9 years old, I was 15 and felt I had missed a lot. I was absolutely exhausted. My career may not have been long, but it was intense and filled to the extreme. I was ready to pass the torch to the other women. I was ready to be home."^[12]

BMX retirement

Although Elliott retired from BMX in January 1986, she was not completely done yet with it. After an almost four year layover she came out of retirement on the national level on Saturday October 28, 1989 when she raced the ABA's Fall National in Yorba Linda, California apparently for the fun of it due to her ABA BMX Hall of Fame induction the following November. She probably thought she would be at the ABA Grand Nationals anyway for her acceptance speech, why not race as well?^[13] Other reports have it that Elliott was lured out of retirement by Bicycle Center bicycle shop as a "spoiler" to better position other Bicycle Center racers to take various titles (he would do so again a year later at the 1990 ABA Grands by bring out of retirement Michelle Cairns), which they succeeded in doing).^[14] Whatever the reason, prior to the Fall Nationals she was seen practicing at the Roseville, California Oak Creek BMX track. Showing that she hadn't missed a beat, she dominated the 15 & over girls class at the Fall Nationals on Saturday. However, she slipped her pedals in the main and finished in seventh place, last in this case, in the main. On Sunday she again came in last (out of six) in the main, an uncharateristic outcome. At the Grand Nationals she again showed she had lost none of her speed and talent she was on the verge of winning her 15 & over girls Main at the 1989 ABA Grand Nationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. However, fate bit her again (and perhaps a bit of ill caution) as it did at the Fall Nationals. She fell doing one of her stylish moves over a jump. She landed badly and crashed. The rest of the pack passed her and her chance of being the Grand National winner went with them. Mapuana Naki won the National number one girl title for 1989^[15] Elliott continued her BMX retirement following that race. Elliot was not in contention for the title since she didn't resume racing until October 1989. After racing one or two more times on the national level, Elliott continued her BMX retirement in February 1990.^[16]

Professional mountain bike racing

Retiring from BMX did not cure her entirely of the racing bug. After college and after a five year layoff (nine years if you do not count her two races in 1989) she showed that she had barely slowed down. Starting in 1994 (and following in the footsteps of a lot of BMX racers) she went on to show the same talent in mountain bike racing (MTB), a sport similar to BMX that uses bicycles with 26" wheels (similar to the "Cruiser class" bicycles in BMX circa 1980) but with courses that are much longer and on steep, downhill slopes, and with certain events, especially snow racing, resembling downhill skiing. Races could last up to 10 minutes (compared to BMX's 30–40 seconds) with speeds hitting 70MPH (compared to BMX's 25-35MPH for Experts and Professionals). In her very first year of racing Mountain Bikes, she became the National Dual Slalom Champion, and attained many more the following years. Over her unprecedented cycling career, she has won 14 major world and national titles, including four National Off Road Bicycle Association's (NORBA) National Championships and two ESPN X Games gold medals. However, she did not race in the revived NBL "Supergirls" class, its pro girls division when it was recreated in 1997, dedicating her time fully to Dual Slalom and Downhill MTB.

Post cycling career

Elliott retired from competitive racing during the 2001 Mountain Bike season due to injury becoming a Senior Broker-Associate/Realtor in California who bills herself as "The Broker on a Bike" a position she still holds. She is also now public speaker, and a helmet safety advocate for children and co-owned and ran her own Sports Management Company (JED Sports Management) through most of her Professional Mountain Biking career^[17] As she was starting her MTB racing career she pursued and holds her B.S. in Business (Graduated with Honors), concentrated in Real Estate and Finance earing it in 1994. Burnout onceagain as it did in her retirement from BMX played a role in her descioun to retire, along with the more pressing reasoning of injury. Again form the interview by fellow BMX/MTB racer Jill Kintner:

"In mountain biking, really the ‘same’ feeling. In 2001 I was 31, and I was ready to be home. I crashed one too many times my last couple years of MTB, and I was just physically and mentally done. The last two years of MTB I was already phasing into my new career with studying for the California Real Estate Broker’s Exam. So, I was definitely ready when the time was right."

A few years after she retired from Mountain Bike competition, she considered another comeback in BMX despite her career ending back injury in the Mountain Bike discipline. (see Mountain Bike section). She contemplated coming out of BMX retirement to try for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China where BMX Racing was making its debut. As she described in a February 12, 2008 BMX Action Online interview:

"I actually considered coming back to BMX a couple of years ago for the Olympics. I secretly called a gal I personally knew at Haro about that thought, and she supplied me with a bike to do a little “secret” training just to see if I felt I could come back. I even communicated with Mike King about the Olympics at one point. He was very intrigued about that possibility. I secretly trained out at Roseville BMX during the off hours. I know the owners of the track out there and they allowed me the privilege to train when nobody else was around. I kept it very hush hush. Although I was able to bring the skills right back and it almost seemed possible, my spinal cord was not appreciating the pounding and pulling. Was a fun thought; however, again not worth the risk. I chose not to pursue it. All that Olympic stuff stayed a “secret”… until this interview."^[18]

Even though she chose not to comeback for health reasons she still left a legacy of racing in both disciplines of BMX and MTB that are still discussed up to this day and is the standard to meet by even today's racers.

Career BMX milestones

Milestone	Event Details
Started racing:	In March 1980 at 9 years of age.
First race result:	First place in 9 & over Girls class in Prairie City, California.
First win (local):	See above.
First sponsor:	JR Racing, local sponsor. 1980-December 1981.
First national win:	At a 1980 United Bicycle Racers (UBR) national in 9-10 girls. She also took a third in 9-10 open and raced in 10 Expert but did not make main.[19]
First National win against boys:	At the January 17, 1982 UBR Bay Area National beating Mark Perez in 11 Expert.[20] She also won the 11-12 Trophy Dash at the 1983 ABA Cajun Nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana in January 1983, overpowering 12 Expert winner Jason Griggs who dominated his age class throughout 1982 and 1983. She was at the time perhaps the only girl to win the Trophy Dash at an ABA national that anyone could recall.[21]
Turned Professional:	No Professional Career ***
Height and weight at height of her career :	Ht:5'1" Wt: 110lbs.[22]
Retired	After the ABA Supernationals which were held on January 27, 1986. She made a brief two race comeback in late 1989 for a few months of racing including the ABA Fall Nationals and the ABA Grandnationals that year while being awarded her BMX Hall of Fame Induction. She was leading the 16 & Over Girls main but slid out and crashed. She raced at least once very early in the 1990 season on the national level and then retired again. She pursued Mountain Bike Racing four years afterward.

Career BMX factory and major bicycle shop sponsorships

---

Amateur

• JR Racing: 1980-December 1981
• Boss Racing Frames: January 1982-December 1982

• Skyway Recreations: January 1, 1983-December 31, 1985

• Retired from BMX racing for approximately 3.5 years (Early 1986-Late 1989).

• Bicycle Center USA (bike shop): October 1989-February 1990. This wasa brief two-race comeback for BMX Hall of Fame Induction awarded at the ABA Grand Nationals in November 1989. She resumed her retirement in early 1990.

Professional

• No Pro career

Career bicycle motocross titles

---

Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

• None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

• 1981 11-13 Powder Puff Knott's Berry Farm Grand Champion (NBL, United Bicycle Racers (UBR) & World Wide Bicycle Motocross Association (WWBMXA) sanctioned.)
• 1983 12-13 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 1984 14-15 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 1984 National No.1 14-15 Girl.

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

• 1982 11-12 Girls Northwest Gold Cup Champion
• 1982 11-12 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 1982 11-12 girls Jag World Champion (ABA sanctioned)
• 1983 13-14 Girls U.S. Gold Cup Champion.
• 1983 13-14 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 1984 13-14 Girls U.S. Gold Cup Champion.
• 1984 California District 11 (Cal-11) No.1 Girl.
• 1984 13-14 Girls International Super Bowl of BMX Class Champion.
• 1984 13-14 Grandnational Champion
• 1985 15 & Over Girls Grandnational Champion
• 1985 15 & Over Girls National No.1
• 1983, 1984, 1985 National No.1 Girl.

United Bicycle Racers Association (UBR)

• 1981 12-13 Girls Grandnational Champion
• 1982 National No.1 Girl.

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

• 1983 12-13 Girls Murray World II Cup Champion
• 1985 15 Girls Murray World Cup IV Champion
• 1985 14-15 Girls World Champion

Other titles

• 1983 12-13 Girls Jag World Super Bowl Champion (Non sanctioned)

Notable BMX accolades

• Named the seventh of the 25 Hottest amateurs in BMX racing by a 1984 survey conducted by BMX Plus! from the opinions of four prominent figures in BMX: Two racers, Brent Patterson and Mike Poulson; and two team officials: Dr. Gary Scofield of GT, Howard Wharthon of Diamond Back.^[23]

• She is the first girl to earn two overall national No.1 girl titles and to do it consecutively (1983,'84 ABA) and the only girl to do so three times and to do it consecutively (1983,'84 '85 ABA).

• In 1989 she became the first woman to be inducted into ABA BMX Hall of Fame.

• In 2008 she became the first BMX woman to be inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.

Racing habits and traits

• Elliott had the physical quirk of unconsciously bobbing her head up and down slightly when she raced.^[24]

Notable BMX injuries

• Elliott is some of the few top BMX racers to escape serious injury during her BMX career, this is in contrast to her Mountain Bike racing career.

Post BMX career

• After her last BMX race in late 1989, which came after a 4 year hiatus, she became a Mountain Bike racer in 1993.

Mountain Bike Racing Career

Mountain Bike Racing (MTB)

Cheri Elliott at the 2001 Sea Otter Classic
Personal information
Nickname	"Cherry"
Country	United States
Height	1.158m (5'2" Imperial)
Weight	65.8 kg (145lbs. Imperial)(2000)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Dual Slalom, Downhill
Role	Racer
Rider type	Off Road
Professional team(s)
1994-1995 1996 1996 1997-1998 1999 2000-2001	KHS Bicycles Mountain Cycle/Quaker Mountain Cycle/Maxxis Maxxis/Azonic/Intense Maxxis/Azonic/Tomac Maxxis/ODI/Azonic/Intense
Infobox last updated on:
August 31, 2008

---

Started racing: 1993 at 23 years of age. In the Summer of 1993 she saw in a bicycle shop a copy of VeloNews magazine and ran across and article about pro dual slalom races. She called a friend who was driving up to a NORBA National event Vail, Colorado and that friend invited her to come along to give it a try. She accepted. After a second race in Mammoth, California. Somewhat intimidated by the courses and speeds of Downhill MTB, she left the sport not expecting to race again but did so again after a six month layoff, determined to conquer her fears.^[25]

First race result: Did not transfer at a Vail, Colorado event in Summer 1993.

Sanctioning body: National Off-Road Bicycle Association

Retired: 2001 at age 31 due to career ending injuries, including one to her spinalcord.

Career MTB titles

---

Amateur

• No amateur status.

Professional

National Off Road Bicycle Association (NORBA)

• 1994 & 1995 National Dual Slalom Champion.

• 1997 National Downhill Champion.

• 1998 National Dual Slalom Champion.

• 2000 United States Dual Slalom Champion

ESPN X-Games

• 1995 Women's Summer Speed Downhill Gold Medalist.

• 1995 Women's Summer Dual Downhill Gold Medalist.

• 1997 Women's Winter Speed Downhill Gold Medalist.

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)

• 1998 Women's Downhill World Champion Bronze Medalist

Notable MTB accolades

• During the 1997 and 1998 seasons Ms. Elliott won and holds the "Guinness World Record" for most X-Games Medals attained in Mountain Biking.^[26]

Notable MTB injuries

• 1994 Broken Right Thumb^[27]

• 1995 Received two concussions^[27]

• 1996 Right Shoulder AC Separation^[27]

• 1997 Broken Right Elbow^[27]

• 1999 Finger injury^[28]

• 2000-2001 Spinal Chord Annular Tear and Retrolisthesis L5-S1 (forced retirement)^[29] This was the instance in which she broke her back at event at Mammoth, California in 2001. She walked away from the crash but started having partial paralysis in her leg a few days later. As she described it in a February 12, 2008 BMX Action Online interview:

"I crashed big time in Mammoth, Ca. I walked away from the crash. However, I didn’t know I broke my back until a couple days later when my right leg started having partial paralysis. Several x-rays, MRI’s and months of physical therapy later, I decided it was time to hang up the wheels. I felt I dodged a bullet, and I didn’t want to dodge any more. I never had surgery, but most likely will need surgery later on in life."^[30]

BMX, mountain bike magazine and general media interviews and articles

BMX and MTB magazine covers

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

• Super BMX: Spring 1985 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Grand National Special Edition at the far left insert. In middle insert Brent Romero. In the far right insert Pete Loncarevich. In the top insert Shawn Callihan.
• Super BMX: March 1984 Vol.11 No.3 in insert with fellow amateur racers Doug Davis, Brett Allen and pro Brian Patterson as the 1983 ABA National Number Ones. Brian Patterson in main image.

Bicycles and Dirt:

• September 1984 Vol.2 No.10 with Gary Ellis and Brit Audeoud in separate frames.

NBA World & NBmxA World (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL membership publication under two names):

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA membership publication under three names):

• April 1984 Vol.7 No.3 far left with (clockwise) Eddy King, Brent Romero, Todd Guss, Brian Patterson, Doug Davis and Brett Allen.

Mountain Biking:

• July 1995 Vol.9 No.7

NORBA News:

• January 1995 Vol.12 No.1

Bike Racing Nation: (Official Publication of USA Cycling)

• November/December 1998 Vol.20 No.2

End Notes

External links

• A photo montage of Ms. Elliott during her BMX career.
• A site dedicated to her old BMX factory team circa early & mid 1980's.
• A history of Skyway Recreation.
• Photo of her in action during her Mountain Bike Racing career.
• Historical Cheri Elliott page with MTB and BMX photos.
• Cheri Elliott's last Sponsors
• Google cached 1997 Mountain Democrat article about her career.
• What she looks like today
• The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
• The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.
• USA Cycling website
• NORBA website
• United States Bicycling Hall of Fame 2008 Inductees
• Cheri Elliott's book The Athlete's Guide to Sponsorship
• Cheri Elliott's current Website
• Jill Kintner October 2008 interview of Cheri Elliott</ref>

Persondata
NAME	Elliott, Cheri
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American champion female bicycle motocross (BMX) racer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 17, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH	Citrus Heights, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH