September 2/24 19:11 pm - Canada Wins Record-breaking 6 Medals at MTB Worlds

Posted by Editoress on 09/2/24
 

Canadian athletes concluded the 2024 Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra on Sunday by adding two additional medals to the four they had already won, a record haul for Canada at a single mountain bike world championships. Isabella Holmgren won her second world title of the week in the Under-23 women's XCO, with Emilly Johnston joining her on the podium with a bronze medal. A day earlier, Finn Iles won his first Elite medal with bronze in the Men's Downhill. On Thursday, Canada had a three medal day, with Isabella winning the Under-23 women's XCC and her sister Ava the bronze, while Rafaëlle Carrier won silver in the Junior women's XCO.

"It was a super exciting Worlds," agrees national mountain bike coach Catharine Pendrel. "We went in knowing we had really talented riders that had done great work on their preparation, but achieving your goals on world champs day is always super special! It wasn't only our medallists that excelled. We had multiple top-10 performances in the U23 men's and women's XCC and XCO events, as well as many other strong performances. I think our riders are really looking forward to the last two World Cups of the season on home soil."

The Andorra track is known for steep climbs and high altitude racing, but Sunday also brought the threat of severe storms and lightning later in the day, so organizers scrambled to change the schedule, with the Under-23 and Elite women racing together and the Elite men earlier than usual. Races were shortened as well.

Olivia Onestia (France) surged out to a strong start in the Under-23 women, leading Isabella Holmgren by 20 seconds after the first lap, as Holmgren started from well back in the combined field [as an aside, who had the dumb idea of mixing both categories to together instead of starting them two minutes apart?]. However, Isabella was only nine seconds back at Split 1 on Lap 2 and had caught Onesti by Split 2 of the lap, pulling away to a 30 second lead by the end of the lap. From this point on, the Canadian could not be touched, setting all the fastest splits and eventually beating Onesti by 1:17. Just as impressive, she finished fifth among the Elite women.

Johnston was nearly a minute back after Lap 1 in eighth place, but then began to move up through the field, and was into third place by mid-Lap 3, which she held to the finish line. Ava Holmgren, third in the XCC, rode as high as sixth mid-race, before dropping one spot in the final half lap to finish seventh. Ella MacPhee fought back from the mid-20s in Lap 1 to finish 12th. In the Elite women, national champion Jenn Jackson was the top Canadian finisher in 24th.

In other Canadian results, Cole Punchard finished sixth in the Under-23 men's XCO, only two seconds out of the top-5; he finished fifth in the XCC earlier in the week. In Elite men, Gunnar Holmgren was the top Canadian in 36th place.

Scott Kelly, Chief Sport Officer for Cycling Canada, commented on Canada's record-setting medal haul: "I think as it relates to Izzy, she's has benefited immensely from strong family support ,great coaching, strong club programming, and a strong provincial program. She was able to make the step up to National Team programming as a U17, first taking part cyclo-cross, then road and mountain bike projects.

"That was a spring board to success as Junior, which led to her and her sister [Ava] ending up with Lidl-Trek. She has been able to balance and ultimately benefit from competing at three different disciplines and the world championship title, to me, reflects not only what an incredible athlete (and quality human being) she is, but also all contributions from so many folks along the way.

"I would be just as proud if it were a single World Championship in isolation, but the fact that Ava, Raf, Emilly and Finn were also able to stand the up on the podium, along with all the other incredible performances this past weekend, is a testament to all the great things happening in Canadian cycling right now.

MTB World Championships: XC races results