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SOUTH JORDAN — At 16 years old, Sophia Foresta has already won the USA BMX championships twice.
The Bingham High School junior won the National No. 1 cup for the first time in 2014 at age 13, and then again in November when she earned the overall prize for female competitors of all ages. Now, she's received another honor — being named the Sports Illustrated high school athlete of the month in February.
Sophia was featured by the sports outlet and will be recognized during the winter sports assembly on Wednesday, which will be attended by Sports Illustrated representatives and a professional athlete, according to Bingham High School. The BMX champion found out she won the award from her father, who received a phone call from Sports Illustrated seemingly out of the blue, Sophia said.
"It was funny, because after the fact (my dad) told me that when they first said it was Sports Illustrated he almost hung up, thinking it was like an advertisement to buy a subscription or something," she said. "Luckily he didn't. … It was super exciting. I didn't believe it for at least a day."
In order to be named high school athlete of the month, Sophia had to be nominated. In addition to athletic achievements, Sports Illustrated says that it looks for students with "exceptional character traits — perseverance, integrity, academic success, selflessness and sportsmanship — that make them leaders on the field, in the classroom and throughout their communities."
In addition to taking the BMX world by storm, Sophia reportedly maintains a 3.91 GPA and enjoys learning sign language. She has already put her skills to good use, helping out with BMX clinics for deaf riders.
"When we do it, it is so much fun," she said. "We just love it because they are so rad and it is good to see new faces."
Sophia started her journey into the BMX world at a young age when her brother, who was 4 years old at the time, saw a flier advertising the sport at a Harmon's grocery store. He decided he wanted to try it and she tagged along.
"I watched him for a little bit just kind of seeing what is going on and then I wanted to try it a couple of months later," she said. "I've kind of been hooked ever since."
Her brother Joey ended up moving on from BMX to pursue downhill mountain biking — which he holds nine national titles in — but Sophia stuck with it. She was the first person from Utah to snag a No. 1 national title in BMX, according to USA BMX.
After getting some more experience under her belt she aims to turn pro. Then, her sights are on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Through all of it, she said she is thankful for the help she receives from family and coaches.
"I have the best support system that anybody could ever ask for," she said. "I have the best parents who support me no matter whether I win or lose or whatever. They're just there for me and they want me to be the best I could ever be. My brother too, he's an amazing athlete himself so him being there to support me and push me and make me want to be better because I see him doing so well — we just feed off of each other."
Sophia's next big national competition will be in Grand Junction, Colorado, in April.
