Petra Henzi

Petra Henzi (born 14 October 1969 in Küttigen, Aargau) is a retired Swiss professional mountain biker.[1] Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Swiss national championship titles, and more importantly, a total of four prestigious medals (one gold, one silver, and two bronze) in women's cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Henzi later represented her nation Switzerland, as a 38-year-old senior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also rode professionally for more than five seasons on Fischer-BMC Team, before retiring from the sport in early 2010.

Petra Henzi
Personal information
Full namePetra Henzi
Born (1969-10-14) 14 October 1969
Küttigen, Aargau, Switzerland
Height1.64 m (5 ft 4 1⁄2 in)
Weight56 kg (123 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineMountain biking
RoleRider
Rider typeCross-country
Professional teams
2001–2002Fischer-K2
2003–2010Fischer-BMC
Medal record
Women's mountain biking
Representing   Switzerland
World Championships
2007 Verviers Marathon
2006 Oisans Marathon
2005 Lillehammer Marathon
2009 Graz Marathon

Racing career

As a full-time member of Fischer-BMC team since her professional cycling debut in 2002, Henzi sought sporting headlines on the international scene at the 2005 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Livigno, Italy, where she claimed the bronze medal in the women's marathon race, adding the Swiss national championship title to her career resume in that same year.[2]

A year later, Henzi continued to flourish her ample success in mountain biking, as she collected a Swiss national championship title in women's cyclo-cross, and a prestigious silver medal in the marathon race at the 2006 UCI World Championships in Oisans, France. With the sudden absence of three-time world and defending Olympic champion Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå of Norway due to a sustained stomach virus, Henzi managed to hold off a sprint cross-country race against Germany's Sabine Spitz for an elusive gold medal in the same distance at the 2007 UCI World Championships in Verviers, Belgium.[3][4] Henzi's striking effort on her gold-medal success strongly guaranteed an automatic spot for her team at the Olympics.

Henzi qualified for the Swiss squad, along with her teammate and European junior champion Nathalie Schneitter, in the women's cross-country race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by receiving one of the nation's two available berths for her team from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), based on her best performance at the World Cup series and Mountain Biking World Rankings.[3][5] She successfully completed a 4.8-km sturdy, treacherous cross-country course with a career-high, sixth-place effort in 1:48:41, narrowly missing out the Olympic podium by more than two seconds.[6][7][8]

Shortly after the Olympics, Henzi established herself again as the top female cyclist by surpassing her teammate Esther Süss for another gold medal at the second and final stage of the Nissan UCI MTB World Cup in Ornans, France.[9] Because of her continuous triumphs and a more profound dedication to the sport, Henzi was officially nominated to be the Swiss Sportswoman of the Year, but did not reach the final shortlist.[10]

At the 2009 UCI World Championships in Graz, Austria, Henzi could not match a sterling ride with a bronze-medal effort in the women's cross-country race, trailing behind her rivals Spitz and Süss by almost three minutes.[11][12]

Career achievements
2005
1st Swiss MTB Championships (Cross-country), Champéry (SUI)
UCI World Championships (Marathon), Livigno (ITA)
UCI World Championships (Cross-country), Livigno (ITA)
2005
1st Swiss MTB Championships (Cyclo-cross), Meilen (SUI)
UCI World Championships (Marathon), Oisans (FRA)
2007
UCI World Championships (Marathon), Verviers (BEL)
2008
Stage 2, Nissan UCI World Cup, Ornans (FRA)
6th Olympic Games (Cross-country), Beijing (CHN)
2009
UCI World Championships (Marathon), Graz (AUT)
2010
2nd Swiss MTB Championships (Marathon), Mendrisio (SUI)

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Petra Henzi". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  2. "McConneloug, Craig strong as worlds conclude". USA Cycling. 4 September 2005. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  3. George, Sue (19 August 2009). "Sauser leads team to marathon worlds". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  4. "Swiss mountain bikers strike gold". Swissinfo. 12 August 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  5. "Sport Kleinste Olympiadelegation seit 32 Jahren" [Smallest Olympic delegation in 32 years] (in German). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  6. "Women's Cross-Country Race". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  7. "Spitz wins scorcher in Beijing". Velo News. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  8. "Platz elf für Elisabeth Osl" [Eleventh place for Elisabeth Osl] (in German). Der Standard. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  9. "Nissan UCI MTB Marathon World Cup #2 – Report, Results, Final Rankings". Canadian Cycling Magazine. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  10. "Der Mann in Crème stiehlt allen die Show" [The man in crème steals the show] (in German). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 6 December 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  11. "Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships: Paulissen confirms, Spitz completes". Union Cycliste Internationale. 23 August 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  12. "Les Suisses décrochent trois médailles aux championnats du monde de marathon" [Swiss cyclists collected three marathon medals at the World Championships] (in French). ArcInfo.ch. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
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