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Aimi Kenyon narrowly misses out on Downhill Mountain Bike medal at Cycling World Championships

Kenyon, who is from Culloden Sunnyside, finished fourth in the junior women event for the second successive year

By Andy Skinner
Aimi Kenyon at the 2023 UCI Cycling Championships. Image: Shutterstock.
Aimi Kenyon at the 2023 UCI Cycling Championships. Image: Shutterstock.

Aimi Kenyon narrowly missed out on a medal in the downhill mountain bike junior women section of the UCI Cycling World Championships at Fort William.

Kenyon, from Culloden Sunnyside, placed in fourth at Nevis Range with a gap of 6.709 seconds behind winner Erice Van Leuven from New Zealand.

Van Leuven’s victory, with a time of 5min 15.613secs, capped a Kiwi clean sweep of medals, with Poppy Lane finishing second and Sacha Earnest claiming bronze.

Erice Van Leuven of New Zealand celebrates winning the Womens Junior Downhill during a Mountain Bike Downhill event at the UCI Championship at Fort William. Image: SNS

She said: “It’s the best day of my life for sure.

“It’s crazy, I can’t believe it – it feel surreal. To have it done with my mates on the podium was insane.”

It was Kenyon’s second successive medal near-miss in the event, having posted the same fourth-placed result at last year’s World Championships at Les Gets in France.

It continues Kenyon’s fine form of recent months, having finished within the top seven placings in all three World Cup events she has competed in so far this year.

Fort William’s Nina Yves-Cameron finished in 24th place in her World Championship debut, ending the race 48.165 seconds behind the winner.

In the junior men section, Germany’s Henri Kiefer claimed gold with a race time of 4mins 30.727secs.

Canada’s Bodhi Kuhn was the final rider out on the Aonach Mor track and threatened to overhaul Kiefer’s lead, but ultimately finished just 0.418secs off the pace. France’s Leo Abella finished 3.964seconds behind to claim bronze.

Kiefer fought back tears on the podium, and he said: “It feels amazing. I have no words, it was such a good run. I am so emotional right now, it means a lot to me.

Henri Kiefer of Germany celebrates winning the Mens Junior Downhill during a Mountain Bike Downhill event at the UCI Championship at Fort William. Image: SNS

“My mind was set, I was going for this.

“This year it was really good here. They made a lot of changes, and made the whole track super fresh. The top was faster than usual, it was super fun.”

Elite finals on Saturday

The elite finals will take place on Saturday afternoon, with Inverness’ Greg Williamson qualifying in 16th position in the men’s section on Friday.

Downhill Mountain Biker Greg Williamson during the UCI Cycling World Championships at Fort William. Image: Shutterstock.

Fort William pair Louise Ferguson and Mikayla Parton will also be aiming for glory in the elite women final, with Ferguson qualifying in 16th spot and Parton three spots behind in 19th.

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