Young gun with a competitive edge: Cassie Voysey

Downhill mountain biking champ Cassie Voysey isn’t one for slowing down, but being in lockdown for the next month is forcing her to take it down a gear. In Sydney she’s still putting the hours in at her home gym and doing whatever she can to stay on top of her game. “I can only ride within a 10kms radius of home so I’m not getting out on the trails but I’m still training hard.”

The 19- year-old had to watch the World Cup from afar this year, but her competitive drive is still very much out in front. “All the riders have really come together for this World Cup -  it’s such a small group because of Covid. It’s hard and I wish I could have been there but I am just focussing on what I can do here.”

Normal life for Cassie is completely focussed on sport - training six days a week on the bike and in the gym, studying strength and conditioning and working at a local bike shop. Her sports obsession started when she was young and she played soccer, softball, Aus tag, summer soccer - “you name it I’ve played it”. “I used to go to the skate park a lot and play around with skateboards, BMX and scooters. So yeah, sport has been massive for me. I was just always outside playing with my brother, I didn’t play video games or anything like that. I was an active kid.”

Soccer took the lead in her life for about ten years and while she thinks she could have gone on to have a professional career, Cassie discovered competitive mountain biking and realised she liked the individual challenge. Cassie rose quickly in the sport and soon started competing internationally in world cups, world champs and New Zealand’s Crank worx series.

“I travelled to Austria for my first World Cup when I was 17 and that felt pretty crazy, I didn't think I’d be going at that age. It didn’t feel real. The tracks were amazing and the crew I rode with were awesome.”

Cassie says the mountain biking scene is full of down-to-earth people and she has made some good friends along the way. Fellow rider Luke Meier-Smith is a mate and he shares music playlists with Cassie that “are great for trail riding”. She started using EarSHOTS bluetooth headphones a few months ago and uses them wherever she goes now.

“I always listen to music or motivational speeches when I train. The earbuds I had fell out all the time but EarSHOTS stay in, which is great, they are the best headphones for riding. Plus, they hardly ever need charging.”

Cassie is super competitive, she has even set BMX racing in her sights, spurred on by the Australian Olympic BMX rider, Saya Sakakibara.

“I have been really inspired to get to the Olympics so hopefully I can give that a go too while also still competing in downhill.”

Cassie says she will always be a person who strives to be the best at her sport, but at the same time she will tell you that “it’s not all about winning. You have to have fun and enjoy what you are doing as well. That’s what it’s all about really.”