Alise Post

  
  


Alise Post

Birthdate: January 17, 1991
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 125 lbs.
Place of Birth: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Hometown: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Residence: Chula Vista, California
Current Coach: Sean Dwight
Team: Redline Bicycles
High School: St. Cloud Tech H.S. (St. Cloud, Minn.) '09
Other Sports Played: Gymanstics (12 years), Track & Field (5 years)
College: University of San Diego
Website: redlinebicycles.com/team/alise-post/
Social Media: Facebook


Hobbies: As a try-it-all kind of person, Alise enjoys go carts, crafting, spending time with her dog, hanging with friends, going to the beach, and attending open gymnastics on occasion.

Favorite Race: "The major races (World Championships and the USABMX Grands) always have great atmosphere, but I do always enjoy racing on U.S. soil during the Chula Vista World Cup, and also back in Rockford, Ill. for the USABMX series. Rockford is usually the only professional race in my home Midwest area and it also happens to be where I got my first national win ever!"

Favorite Place to Train: Chula Vista Olympic Training Center

Best Cycling Memory: Winning both days of the season opener in 2014, days before her mother passed away.

Best Advice Received From a Coach When Starting Out: "To have fun and enjoy myself, ride with people better than me, and don't be afraid to try new things and take risks."

Motivation: "I am continually chasing being the best me I can be. I don’t believe I have yet reached my potential in the sport, so everyday I strive to reach that potential and become the best."

Hero/Role Model: "I have different people I look to for different things. As a kid I always looked up to Kim Hayashi within the sport, and nowadays that person is probably Sam Willoughby. I also look outside the sport to people like P!NK for her attitude and approach to life as a strong and successful female figure. And last but not least, I hope to always be good to others and leave a positive impact the same way my mother did."

Cycling & Personal Career Goals: "My main cycling goals are to earn an Olympic gold medal, an elite women's world championship title, and another USABMX #1 Women’s Pro Series championship. Outside of the sport, my plan is to earn a degree in athletic training and potentially physical therapy so that I can stay within the sports world and pass on what I’ve learned over the years. I have unfortunately had a lot of injuries, and think that I could relate to athletes and provide some good insight as they take on challenges in their athletic careers."

What Makes Alise Post Unique?: "I am a smalltown midwest girl that grew up in the snow, focusing on gymnastics, that has ended up excelling in a male-dominated summer sport against riders that have spent their entire lives riding their bikes year round, which is pretty rare. I have also had a fairly high rate of injury and faced quite a bit of adversity, but kept punching away and have managed to continually progress in spite of everything. I get told quite often that my relentless determination motivates other people, and although I don’t really think of myself in that way, I guess it’s a pretty cool thing to be remembered for."

How Did You First Become Involved in Cycling?: "One of my brothers found out about BMX when I was just 6 years old, and when he started riding he noticed other little girls out at the track and decided I should try it too. He convinced my parents and I to go out there a few weeks after he started, but only to be disappointed by the fact that I chickened out and wouldn’t start in my first race. However, after another week went by and my parents ALMOST got my membership money back, I finally did my first race… and the rest is history :)"

Charity Work/ Community Involvement: "Every year I host an annual 'Alise Post MS Race for a Cure' at my home track in Minnesota, with varying events run in conjunction with a local BMX race to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis. My family has also been the driving force behind the development and growth of Pineview Park BMX in St. Cloud, Minn., which was turned from a vandalized city park into one of the best BMX facilities in the country."

Family: The daughter of Mark and Cheryl Post. Cheryl passed away from cancer on Jan. 14, 2014. Has two brothers, Jeremy and Nick.

Olympic and World Championship Results

USA Cycling National Championships

Career Highlights

Points of Interest

  • Alise cites her boyfriend, Australian BMX superstar Sam Willoughby, as one of the most influential individuals on her career.
  • Alise was also a highly competitive gymnast in her 'younger days.'
  • In 2006 she was voted "Rookie Pro of the Year" by the readers of BMXer Magazine. Up until this point, this honor had been exclusively reserved for males.

Personal

Despite being one of the best female BMX racers in the U.S. back in 2008, Alise Post was denied a spot on the Olympic team because, at age 17, she was too young. The age minimum for an Olympic BMX racer in 2008 was 19. In a sport that awards national titles to champions as young as five, a racer's rise to fame comes early, and the young BMX star from St. Cloud, Minn., who was accustomed to racing at the sport's top level, was forced to witness BMX's pinnacle event from afar. To distract herself from the disappointment, Alise spread herself thin across three sports: BMX, gymnastics, and track and field, while maintaining a 4.0 grade average. The Herculean efforts demanded by her activities took a toll and her 2008-09 BMX racing seasons suffered as a result.

Throughout those years, Alise had a bit of a reality check. Injury and fresh competition brought new challenges to her. Despite her below-par performances on the international level, by the end of 2009 she was back among the world's best. Once she became eligible for the 2012 Olympic Games, Alise took her dedication to BMX to a new level. Upon graduating high school in 2009, Alise retired from gymnastics and track and field in order to relocate — at the invitation of USA Cycling — to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and regain her winning ways. Although she remained busy by continuing her education as a fulltime student at the University of San Diego for the 2009-10 academic year and by increasing her involvement on the BMX World Cup circuit, she saw big improvements in the beginning of 2010. As a result, she resolved to narrow her focus yet again by making the difficult decision to take a break from college and completely dedicate herself to BMX.

Within months of this decision, Alise claimed a place as the top-ranked American, both nationally and internationally, by taking third place at both her first elite world championship, and at a world cup race on her home track in Chula Vista. She followed up those results with a fourth place at the final world cup round in France and by finishing second overall in the world rankings.

Alise's brilliant performances ended with a crash in practice just days prior to the 2011 UCI BMX World Championships. Her years as a gymnast and track and field athlete left her with overstretched ligaments, which tore on impact and left her right fibula exposed to breakage. She was poised for a strong finish to the 2011 season and as she put it, "It’s crazy…a year’s worth of work and “BAM!,” gone in the blink of an eye."

A true competitor, the 5'2", 120 lb. Post began immediate rehab following surgery and was back on her bike in time to successfully defend her USA Cycling national championship title in the spring of 2012 and hasn't slowed since.

Hear more from Alise in our series Profiling the Future of American Cycling.



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