3 Medals for South Africa at Masters World Champs

The 2015 UCI Mountain Bike Masters World Championships took place at Pal ski station, Vallnord (Andorra) from the 23-27 August. Seven downhill riders from South Africa descended upon the 2,5km track and arrived at the bottom of the track with three medals to take home.

Joanne Hicks (left) finished in third place and Kathryn Fourie (right) second in the Women 30-34 category at the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike Masters World Championships in Vallnord (Andorra) from the 23-27 August. Photo: Supplied.

In the Women’s 30-34 category, Kathryn Fourie (RSA) claimed the silver medal just behind Alice Kuhne(SUI), and just ahead of bronze medal winner, Joanne Hicks (RSA). In the team’s blog, Fourie wrote:

“Jo had a clean, focussed run and got down the hill with no spills, however I let my nerves get the better of me and crashed twice by riding too stiff. The crashes were enough that I had to run back to my bike each time and get going again, but nothing too epic. I caught up with other riders down the bottom and it was just too tricky to pass people, and not worth the risk considering I’d already crashed twice…I was happy to take second in my category, and Jo took third. Two SA shirts on the podium at once was pretty cool in the pictures.”

Mark Millar formed part of the seven downhill rider crew from South Africa as he competed in the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike Masters World Championships in Vallnord (Andorra) from the 23-27 August. Photo: Supplied.

Despite a crash the day before that left her with an injured wrist, Rika Olivier (RSA) finished second with the silver medal in the Women’s 40-44 Category, and third overall, adding to South Africa’s overall medal tally to make it three.

South African Masters DHI Results:

Kathryn Fourie (KZN) 30-34 – 2nd (8:35.26)
Rika Olivier (WC) 40-44 -2nd (7:35.09)
Joanne Hicks (KZN) 30-34 – 3rd (10:03.21)
Nigel Hicks (KZN) 35-39 – 40th (5:40.57)
Mark Millar (KZN) 35-39 – 50th (5:58.91)
Jacobus Truter (GP) 30-34 – 62nd (6:08.60)
Peter Hoyer (KZN) 55-59 – DNS – (crashed in Practice and chose not to race)

For the full set of results, click here.

The XCO event also saw South African riders participating, such as Jimmy Redman, finished 16th in the 55-59 age category.

For a full set of XCO results, click here.