World Masters MTBO Champs in Hungary

Last week the 2018 World Masters MTBO Champs were held near Budapest in Hungary. The competition was held in conjunction with the European MTBO Champs for Elites and Juniors, so there were around 550 riders in attendance.

This year saw for the first time, the Mass Start event as an official World Championship for Masters along with Sprint, Middle and Long races.

11 Aussies and two Kiwis took part with stand out performances from Carolyn Jackson (W60), Marina Iskhakova (W40) and NZ’s Marquita Gelderman (W50).

Carolyn and Marquita dominated their classes each winning FOUR GOLD MEDALS each! Marina rode extremely well in her first World Masters MTBO winning two Golds and two Bronze medals. Rob Garden (M65) from NZ also won a Silver and Bronze medal. A big congrats to them all on some fantastic riding.

Other Victorians competing were Leigh Privett (M70) and Peter Cusworth (M65) with each gaining a 4th place as their best result.

The event centre was in the Buda Hills just outside Budapest. There was fine weather for the Mass Start and Sprint events on day 1 and 2, but heavy rain started on the afternoon of the Sprint and continued for 24 hours turning the Long distance map into a sea of mud, puddles and slippery tracks really challenging riders skills on the hilly map.
This short video from the Long event gives an idea of the conditions.

Conditions were a little better for the Middle event on day 4 in a less hilly area, but some very large and unavoidable puddles (bog holes!) engulfed many riders. Needless to say there was an extremely long line at the bike wash hoses on these days.

The final day saw an unofficial Masters Relay with 3 Aussie teams taking part, all in the mixed 160 year class. The team of Ricky Thackray (WA), Carolyn Jackson and Peter Cusworth just missed third place by 14 seconds.
Results and splits for all events here.

Short videos for the Mass Start, Sprint and Middle events can be found here, with Aussies featuring in most.