Olympic silver medalist Alise Willoughby said her BMX bike was stolen while she dined at an In-N-Out Burger in California last weekend.
“It’s very noticeable,” Willoughby said of the bike in an NBC San Diego interview. “My name is written all over it.”
Willoughby has not returned an email to an account associated with her, seeking an update on the bike. She said she has been undefeated domestically riding the bike this year. Willoughby is a four-time world medalist, with a gold in 2017.
Willoughby said her biggest race of the year is in three weeks, presumably the Grand Nationals in Tulsa.
“And I don’t have a bike right now,” she said.
Willoughby has been known to ride with the words “Cheryl Strong” on her bike’s front hub axle in honor of her mom, who was diagnosed with melanoma in 2013 and died in January 2014. It’s not known whether the stolen bike is the same one.
Willoughby, née Post, married 2012 Olympic silver medalist Sam Willoughby of Australia on Dec. 31, two years after he suffered a training crash that temporarily left him with no feeling below his chest. He walked her down the aisle with the aid of a walker.
“It’s got a lot of meaningful stuff to me,” Alise Willoughby said of the bike, “between my husband’s accident and my mom’s passing away, just custom little things that mean a lot to me.”
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