Women in Motocross
Ashely Fiolek has more than proven the positions of women in motocross. The 21-year-old rider has taken the Women’s Motocross Championship three times, and also a gold medal for MX at the X-Games.
But besides earning numerous accolades in a male-dominated sport, Fiolek has proven more to just the motorcycle-racing community that she has pure skill; Ash has proven that many can also overcome disabilities, such as her deafness.
And due to these factors, Fiolek was the focus of a feature article in the April 2012 issue of Vogue magazine, which focuses on the world of entertainment and fashion with 12 issues published each year, and over 1.2 million copies in circulation monthly.
The four-page article discusses how Fiolek overcame her disability in a “high-speed sport that puts a premium on the sense of hearing.”After a successful amateur-racing career that saw Fiolek win 13 amateur national titles and more than 100 races, Ashley made her full-season professional racing debut in 2008, winning the AMA WMA Women’s Motocross Championship in her first attempt and garnering mainstream and enthusiast media coverage.
Fiolek followed up that success with much more: joining the American Honda Racing Team in 2009, she secured the WMA Championship for the second year in a row and also earned a gold medal in the highly popular X Games competition.
After finishing 2010 as runner-up in the WMA series and collecting X Games gold once again, in 2011 she once again took the AMA WMA Women’s Motocross Championship.
In addition, Fiolek penned “Kicking Up Dirt,” a book documenting her efforts to overcome her deafness and become a champion in the demanding sport of Motocross.
Speaking of Fiolek, Honda says she also made history by becoming the first female to sign a contract with the American Honda Racing factory team in 2009. In addition to her impressive run of race wins, she has also continued to help bring attention to women’s motocross and has become a positive role model for young girls everywhere.