In both business and BMX courses, Cutter Williams' grit shines through

From business to BMX, George Mason University student Cutter Williams has been carving his own path since his first race on the track.

BMX (bicycle motorcross) is a form of bicycle racing where competitors race simultaneously through a challenging course of banked turns, jumps, hills, and rollers (small hills that can't be jumped). A lap around the track takes about 30-40 seconds, and, according to Williams, is "like a roller coaster."

Williams, hailing from Great Falls, Virginia, got his first taste of that thrill when he was 7 and a friend invited him to a BMX track on a competition day. Williams already had plenty of miles under his mountain bike wheels by then. BMX, though, was "magic." One of the managers saw him on the course before the competition and encouraged him to sign up for the race.

He won.

He's been chasing that gold ever since.

"By first or second grade, I knew I wanted to be a professional athlete," Williams said. "It was just one of those times when you just know it's going to happen."

He was right. In 2024, Williams won the national championship, pushing his way up from third place to take the race at the stripe. He won bronze at the 2026 national championship. Now, he's got his eyes on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

Trophies and medals aren't the only prizes on Williams' mind. He's also racing toward a degree in finance from Costello College of Business, taking online courses between training and competitions.

"Ever since I was a kid, I've been interested in numbers and data," he said. "Business 100, that first class in the curriculum, really just sealed the deal for me that this is what I wanted to do."

Being a professional athlete is a full-time job. Williams puts in six days a week of training between conditioning and riding the track. But school, he says, always comes first.

"BMX will take you far, but you can only do BMX for so long," he said.

Williams is taking advantage of the breadth of courses offered at George Mason to support his career. He's taken nutrition courses to learn to optimize his diet for training and racing. After traveling to Argentina, Colombia, and Chile for races, he signed up for Spanish courses to be able to better experience the culture next time he races there.

"It's easy to be integrated into school while also balancing a career," Williams said. "The way the classes are set up, how easy it is to log in and check my Mason pathway: It's so accessible. And my professors have been very welcoming and supportive of my career."

Qualifications for the Olympics begin at the end of this year. Williams hopes to seal World Cup and World Championship wins to get one of the coveted Team USA spots. But like he said: School comes first. He's hoping to spend the summer before the Olympics in an internship.

"George Mason has just been really great," he said. "I'm thankful I can still do what I love while preparing for the future."

See why Costello Means Business

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