Mia was born on 18 May 2005 in a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Velika Kladusa. She is a member of the Croatian motorcycle club SMK Savski Marof, and is competing in the HMS Croatian Junior Motocross and SuperCross Championships.
She started Motocross at the age of 4, and in her 5th year she had already participated in her first Motocross and SuperCross races in Croatia. That year she became a vice champion in SuperCross and ever since then she has not looked back.
In the next four years she won 4 Croatian national championships in Motocross and 3 championships in SuperCross.
At the age of 7 she was named as one of the biggest discoveries of the year in Croatian motorcycle sport. When she turned 9 she became the best female motorcycle athlete of the year in Croatia.
Last year she was also riding in the Motocross Championship of Slovenia where she won in 4 out of 6 events. Mia had all her wins in the 50 cc class, riding in the boys’ competitions.
She has a very competitive temperament and does not like losing. Mia is a fierce rival for all the boys and she regularly beats them. If by any chance she does not win, a couple of tears may appear on her face.
Her parents are always with her at her races, and sometimes her older sisters join them. Mom is in charge of the equipment, food and condition exercises, and Dad has to make sure that the motorcycle is working properly and is ready for the race.
For her coach, she has chosen a legend of Motocross, Nenad Šipek, who was 18 times Croatian Motocross Champion and winner of the European Open Championship in 1999. Mia is very hard working, following Nenad’s instructions carefully and putting them into practice successfully. Sometimes she has to miss school because of her training schedule, but despite that she is an excellent student.
In addition to Motocross, Mia also takes singing and dancing lessons, and she also plays volleyball. After her motorcycle, which has pride of place in her affections, she also loves playing the guitar.
Mia is already training with her new 65cc KTM and this year she will attempt to win another championship competing with boys. She is waiting with great impatience for the day when she can ride a race on a big motorcycle in a Woman’s World Championship.
Text: Stjepko Varga