Crush Of The Week: Deaf Motocross Rider Ashley Fiolek Doesn't Need To Hear To Kick Ass

23-year old motocross racer Ashley Fiolek has one big thing different from all her competitors – she was bron deaf. But that doesn't slow her down at all. If anything this racing devil has used her "disability" to push the limits of what she is possible of even further. There's straight-up nothing more impressive than someone who overcomes whatever challenges may have been thrown at them and rises to the occasion – and for that reason Ashley is our crush of the week.

Check out the amazing video profile above and learn more about Fiolek below as well.

Be sure to check her out on her website, on Facebook and Twitter

Redbull bio:

Women’s motocross is a fast emerging sport. In the past, motocross has been a predominantly male pastime, particularly in the pro and international arenas. However, things are changing and the popular sport keeps on evolving. Leading the charge is young pioneer Ashley: an AMA Motocross Champion and consistent top three finisher hailing from Florida, USA.

Ashley’s route into the sport is was not an orthodox one – if there is such a thing. Her family moved to Augustine, Florida, purely because it was home to the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind – Ashley herself has been profoundly deaf since birth. Here she studied ballet, practised track running and played baseball, which was about as reckless as it got.

Some years before, as a child, Ashley’s parents had noticed her passion for riding bikes and when she was three they had bought her a young rider’s Yamaha PW50. Despite not liking the training wheels, the youngster’s career path was irreversibly set from this point and no amount of ballet and athletics was going to change that.
Ashley started racing in 1990 at the age of seven. She soon shone as an emerging talent. In 2008, Ashley won her first WMX Pro National Championship title, and in 2009, she won her first X Games gold medal, cementing her position as a top rider and taking herself and the sport into a bright new future at the same time.

She became the first female rider featured in action on the cover of Transworld Motocross (or any major American motocross publication) and stood alone to advance women's racing in the U.S. to the next level of performance, recognition and prestige.

Today, she has won two X Games gold medals, and four AMA Women's National Motocross Championship titles!