Irish Cycling has a new World Champion, Oisin O’Callaghan (report & photos CI)
The 17-year old from Limerick claimed the UCI MTB Downhill Junior World Championships Title in Austria on Sunday morning. O’Callaghan blasted down the 2.3-kilometer course, dubbed the “Speedster” as speeds approaching 65 km / h on the rough terrain. O’Callaghan finished ahead of Great Britain pair Daniel Slack and James Elliott to win Ireland’s first-ever Downhill world title at the Mountain Bike Championships.
Speaking after being awarded the rainbow jersey O’Callaghan said: “I don’t think it’s sunk in fully yet, later on, I think it will. It’s a bit overwhelming right now.” “I think every racer aims to win. But the top five would have been really good.” “Everyone has been sending me messages and hoping that I do well.” “I know lots of people were watching live timing.” O’Callaghan had signed for professional team YT Mob earlier this year and based himself out of Switzerland in preparation of the event, Teammate Christopher Cumming posted the second-fastest time in qualification on Friday but had to settle for 21st in Sunday’s final. McKenna Merten finished 8th in the Junior Women’s race with Jacob Dickson suffering a DNF in the Elite Men’s race. Dickson has qualified 32nd in a time of 4:04.598
