We are blown away! At the first Red Bull Hardline of the year - the competition took place in Tasmania, off the coast of Australia, on the night of Friday to Saturday (8 February 2025) - a 20-year-old woman joined the high-calibre field of "danger seekers".
Unbelievable! Anyone who watched the Red Bull Hardline live stream could hardly believe what they saw in the final. As the only woman in the starting field of the world's most fearless downhillers, Gracey Hemstreet (20) braved the gruelling descent with 10-metre drops, 20-metre wide doubles, step-downs with 20-metre flying turns and a 25-metre final jump that would have widened the pupils of even the toughest of the tough - because only they take part in the Hardline.
Gracy Hemstreet: No backing out before the scary descent
The scary downhill already struck in training and gave tough riders like Szymon Godziek such a beating that the Rampage runner-up (2024) decided to skip the final. Last year's winner Ronan Dunne also crashed so badly in training that he had to cancel his title defence.
The only other woman to manage a "full run" in qualifying: Erice Van Leuven, fell headfirst from a rock drop during training and broke her back, neck and wrist on impact - which shows just how treacherous the descent was for the athletes here.
Even downhill world champion Vali Höll, who had travelled to the event especially for the Hardline, backed out when she saw the jumps, which were up to 25 metres wide, and decided to support the Hardline commentators Rob Warner and Eliott Jackson (which she did skilfully) rather than jeopardise her racing season by taking part in the Hardline. Maybe Vali was just scared of this "win or coffin" competition - we can't blame her!
In contrast, the young Canadian showed steel nerves and courage for 10. Gracey Hemstreet confidently steered her Norco downhiller through the hardline descent, took every drop with apparent coolness, skimmed over jumps and doubles and even found the necessary nonchalance for style interludes. Gracey didn't save herself from the monstrous final jump like some other riders, no, she whipped her big bike to the side to the delight of the fans!
Gracey Hemstreet crowned "Queen of Hardline"!
The young woman comes from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, where her dad Hemstreet looks after the Coast Gravity Park. Gracey got her first bike at the age of nine and loved spending time in the park with her dad. Gracey has been racing since 2018 and has been on a winning streak ever since, including a Junior World Cup win in downhill. We say: What a power woman!
Fun fact: Last year, at the age of 19, Gracey was already training on the somewhat tamer Hardline course in Tasmania and was honoured with the Rider of the Week award. How do you think dad Hemstreet felt when he watched his daughter on the Red Bull Hardline?
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
