22 Oct 2011

Teen debutant pushes Walker at North Island BMX Champs

7:12 pm on 22 October 2011

Supercross World Cup champion Sarah Walker's won the North Island BMX Championships in Gisborne, despite being pushed hard by a rising teenage star.

16-year-old Monique Smith finished a close runner-up to Walker on her debut in the junior women's class, which was combined with the elite women.

Racing on her home track, Smith beat Walker in two of their qualifying motos and rode a strong second half of the final to close on Walker.

It's Walker's last competition for the year in which she not only won the Supercross World Cup but finished second at the World Championships.

She's trying to manage a bulged disc between her shoulder blades which has plagued her since February before beginning training for next year's Olympics.

Tauranga's Kurt Pickard won the elite men winning ahead of New Plymouth's Mat Cameron and local Rider Nic Fox, who were only separated by a review of the photo finish.