Caroline Buchanan (born 24 October 1990) is an Australian cyclist who has won multiple world championships in BMX racing and mountain biking. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event.
Nicknamed Caro,[1] Buchanan was born on 24 October 1990 in Canberra, Australia.[1][2] She attended Duffy Primary School before going to high school at Merici College and Erindale College.[1] In September 2016, Buchanan became engaged to American BMX rider Barry Nobles[3][4] and they married in September 2018.[5]
Buchanan is 165 centimetres (65 in) tall and weighs 68 kilograms (150 lb).[1]
In late December, 2017, Buchanan was involved in an off-road vehicle accident. She suffered serious injuries, including a collapsed lung and spent time in an intensive care unit.[6]
Buchanan represents Australia in BMX and mountain biking.[7] She has been coached by Wade Bootes since 2007.[1] Her primary training base is on Queensland's Gold Coast.[1] She has a cycling scholarship with the ACT Academy of Sport.[1] She is a member of the Tuggeranong Vikings BMX Club.[1] She is 11× time Australian champion in BMX,[7] in 2011 World Championships Buchanan won silver medal at time trial. She is also the 2009 and 2010 4-X Champion.[2][8] She has earned the Australian Female Mountain bike rider of the year title three times.[1]
While Buchanan was one of the best Australian BMX riders in 2008, she was not eligible for the Olympics because of her age.[1] Following the 2008 issue, she added mountain biking to her cycling disciplines.[1]
During 2012, Buchanan was focused on BMX and earning an Olympic spot in the discipline.[8] In 2012, she won a round of the Supercross, becoming the first Australian woman to do so.[8] She had the two fastest runs at the 2012 time trial event at the World Championships in Birmingham, England.[8] In May 2012, she was ranked the number one women's BMX rider in the world.[8] She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event.[1]
In September 2013, Buchanan won the elite women's title at the UCI World Four Cross ChampionshipsinLeogang, Austria. She beat Anneke Beerten (Netherlands) the defending world champion.[9] In July Buchanan also won the UCI BMX World Championships in New Zealand.[9] In 2013, she won the Sir Hubert Opperman Trophy for Australia's best all-round cyclist. She was the first person competing in BMX or mountain bike to win the award.[10][11]
In May 2016, Buchanan won the Elite Women's Time Trial at the World BMX Championships in Colombia[12] and was second to Mariana Pajón in the Elite Women's BMX race.
Buchanan qualified second in the seeding at the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, she crashed during one of the semi-final rounds and did not qualify for the final.[13]
Since recovering from an accident in December 2017 she has started to compete in freestyle BMX events.[14] In October 2019 she joined the Ride Concepts team.[15] She is aiming to compete in BMX in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[needs update]
Australia
UCI Four Cross World Championship
Elite National Championships
