| Ashley Fiolek | |
| Nationality | American |
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| Motocross career | |
| Active years | 2008- |
| Teams | Red Bull/Honda factory team |
| Grands Prix | |
| Championships | 2008 WMA Pro National Champion |
| Wins | |
| GP debut | |
| First GP win | |
Ashley Fiolek (born October 22, 1990) is a deaf motocross racer in the Women's Motocross Association.[1] Racing with numberplate 67, she was the 2008 WMA Pro National champion after her first professional win at the WMA Pro National Hangtown.[2] She also won many races in the 2009 season, including Moto 1 at Hangtown and both motos at Glen Helen.[3] She repeated as 2009 WMA Pro National Champion by finishing 7th at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania on September 5, 2009. She finished this race in pain with a collarbone fracture due to a spill during the race.
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Fiolek was born on October 22, 1990 in Dearborn, Michigan and has been deaf since birth. Fiolek's family moved to St. Augustine, Florida so she could attend the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, the largest school of this type in the United States. At the school, she studied ballet, ran track, and played basketball. When Fiolek finished eighth grade, her parents decided to begin homeschooling her.[4]
As a child, she used to ride on the front of her mother's 4-wheeler or her father's bike. Her family often went to her Grandfather's house in Northern Michigan and rode through the woods for hours. Around the age of three, Fiolek's parents gave her a Yamaha PW50, a bike suitable for very young riders. She did not use the bike very often; she had trouble with the training wheels and preferred to ride with her parents.[5]
Fiolek began racing at age seven.[3][6] In April 2010 Fiolek published her first book, Kicking Up Dirt,[7] with It Books, co-written with journalist Caroline Ryder (HarperCollins Publishers). In May 2011, Fiolek and her motocross riding were featured in a commercial for Red Bull. She is the sixth athlete sponsored by Red Bull to appear in a commercial for the energy drink.[8]
In 2009, Fiolek won her first X-Games gold medal in Women's Moto X Super X at X-Games 15.[9] Fiolek won her second consecutive X-Games Gold Medal in Super X Women's on July 31, 2010 at X-Games 16.
In 2011, at X-Games 17, Fiolek crashed during practice and was knocked unconscious. Doctors determined she would be unable to compete.