The 18-year-old Tyrolean won the junior event with a fabulous lead (1min56) and secured Austria its ninth World Championship gold medal in the mountain biking category.
The first World Championship gold in her young career and at her home World Championships: Mona Mitterwallner celebrated gold in the cross-country junior competition in Saalfelden Leogang. ‘I worked so long for this day, trained so much and worked so hard on myself. I could hardly hold back my tears on the last few metres to the finish. This day is just pure emotion!’
As the leader of the UCI world rankings for juniors, the young Tyrolean stood up to the pressure of expectations at her home World Championships in Saalfelden Leogang - more than holding her own, as the 18-year-old literally pulverised the competition: ‘I was already aware that there was ultimately only one place that I would be really happy with. But the pressure you put yourself under is of course enormous. The race itself was anything but easy for me. I had a bad crash on the first lap, which really unsettled me, and the others caught up again. After that I knew that I had to push. It's not easy to keep the gaps in the mud, and my chain jumped out a few times. But I knew that my form was right and I can't really realise it all yet,’ said Mitterwallner.
In second place, Luisa Daubermann won the first World Championship medal for Germany, with bronze going to Aneta Novotna from the Czech Republic.
The elite decisions of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships presented by Mercedes Benz in Saalfelden Leogang will be shown on Saturday and Sunday on ORF Sport+, on ZDF Livestream and on Red Bull TV.
