Canadians already have something to cheer about at the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. That's because Isabella Holmgren took gold in the U23 ladies' short track cross-country (XC) event, clocking 20 minutes and 31 seconds.
Ava Holmgren notched bronze after finishing 26 seconds behind her sister. Pushing between the two Ontarians for silver was Ella Maclean-Howell of Great Britain, 22 seconds back.
Emily Johnston wound up fourth, and Squamish's Ella MacPhee rode to 15th in Pal Arinsal, Andorra.
Already a two-time junior world titleholder in XC and cyclocross, Isabella placed 17th last month at the Paris Olympics. She is now history's inaugural U23 women's winner at the World Championships level.
Each of the division's top contenders remained together on their opening lap. Maclean-Howell established a four-second gap at one point, but Isabella overtook her to front-run the rest of the event. Ava earned hardware of her own by way of a final-lap surge.
Meanwhile, British athlete Evie Richards prevailed among elite female short-trackers (19:46), besting incumbent Olympic champ Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of France by a single second. 13 other riders crossed the line within a minute of the lead pair, with Sweden's Jenny Rissveds getting third.
Full results from Pal Arinsal are available here.
