Waite Park sports bar holding watch party for local BMX Olympian

The Ultimate Sports Bar and Grill in Waite Park said it will be hosting a watch party for Alise Willoughby, a St. Cloud native, when she competes in the Olympics for women’s BMX racing.

The BMX racing competition starts on Thursday, Aug. 1 with Women’s BMX quarterfinals starting at 1:20 p.m. CT. Semi-finals and finals are the next day, Aug. 2 at 1:15 p.m. CT.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are Willoughby’s fourth games. The 33-year-old first competed at the London games in 2012, placing sixth. She won silver at the 2016 Rio games, the first time a U.S. woman won a silver in BMX racing. She placed 15th at the Tokyo 2020 games.

Willoughby won her third World BMX title in 2024.

This year’s Team USA Olympic Women’s BMX racing team includes Willoughby, Daleny Vaughn and Felicia Stancil.

Willoughby’s family helped turn a vandalized park in St. Cloud into Pineview Park BMX, one of the top BMX facilities in the nation.