Kayla Hankins

Meet the Riders

I’m Kayla Hankins, 17, from Scottsdale, AZ.

I started racing triathlon at age 7, and soon realized that I loved to race bikes. I got involved with a local club called Strada Racing, and when they saw that I really liked to go fast, they introduced me to track cycling.

Arizona does not have a velodrome, so I learned how to ride a track bike in an empty parking lot. I competed in local road races, trained on parking lots and quiet roads, and raced the Arizona State Championships in Encino, CA each year.

In 2014, I raced my first Track National Championships in Carson, CA. There I won my first national title, and within a week I was in Wisconsin for the Road National Championships. I was involved in a serious crash in the road race, and went home with a shattered jaw, 6 broken teeth, and lots of stitches.

After a long recovery, I was lucky to be connected with Bob Francis and the Foundation for American Track Cycling in 2017, and raced for them under new coaches. My coach at the time, Missy Erickson, helped me realize my talent for track sprinting, and in 2018 I was selected for the Olympic Development Sprint Program.

Since then, I have had many opportunities to race around the US and internationally. My current coach, Lee Povey, has helped me greatly improve my performance and showed me that my lifelong dream to make an Olympic team could be reality with hard work, dedication, and support.

Highlighted Results:

2018 Junior Track National Championships (Trexlertown, PA)