AusLeisure

The 23rd Australian Mountain Bike Interschools Championships has welcomed its largest number of competitors with over 1,000 of Australia’s best school-aged mountain bike riders from over 220 schools competing in five events over five days from Wednesday 23rd March to Sunday 27th March 2022

School-aged competitors aged from eight to nineteen years of age battled it out across five events: Maxxis All-Mountain Assault, Fox Flow Motion Cup, Oakley Cannonball Downhill, Rockshox Pump Track Challenge and Osprey Cross Country.

Caroline Brauer, Thredbo Marketing Manager advised “seeing the camaraderie and sportsmanship displayed by all the competitors was a tribute to the schools and the students who attended this year’s Australian MTB Interschools at Thredbo.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of competitors and schools who participated this year. The huge number of entries, together with the incredible talent and skills shown by the students shows just how bright the future of mountain biking as a sport is.”

Day one saw a huge day of practising on Thredbo’s network of gravity and cross-country trails, with many of the school-aged children dialling up their skills and testing their times down the trails.

Making its MTB Interschools debut, the Maxxis All-Mountain Assault kicked off on Thursday with competitors making it down the gruelling 4km undulating descent.

On Friday, the Fox Flow Motion Cup saw the biggest number of competitors battling it out for glory down the 4.5km track that descends 465 vertical metres through a mix of open berms and long undulating straights.

Saturday saw the Oakley Cannonball Downhill take place with the bravest and most talented mountain biking students from all over Australia testing their downhill skills down the challenging Cannonball trail. The day ended with three students from each school per division selected to compete in the crowd favourite, the Rockshox Pump Track Challenge.

With the sunshine continuing and rounding out an incredible five days of competition, Sunday saw the final event of the competition, the Osprey Cross Country test the cardio capacity of the competitors with a 2.5km loop around Friday Flat with a ratio of 70/30 uphill to downhill. The oldest competitors rode five laps of the loop, while the youngest competitors tested themselves with two laps.

It was Jobe Gentle from Snowy Mountains Grammar School and Poppy Pollock from St Mary Star of the Sea College who took out the Overall King and Queen of the Australian MTB Interschools Championships, winning the overall Division 1 Boys and Girls categories (Years 11 and 12). Archer Henness and Madeline Lloyd, both from Snowy Mountains Grammar School took out the youngest Boys and Girls age category, Division 4 (Primary School competitors).  

The overall Champion School was Snowy Mountains Grammar School, with Heathcote High School and Jindabyne Central School in second and third place.

According to Madeline Lloyd, aged ten from Snowy Mountains Grammar School who made the podium in all five events in Division 4 Girls, the event was the highlight of her school year so far. She especially enjoyed having so many female riders from all over the country to compete with.

Images courtesy of Thredbo Mountain Bike Interschools 2022

Related Articles

23rd March 2022 - Kingston Mountain Bike Park among 41 Tasmanian sports projects to receive funding

12th November 2021 - Sunshine Coast’s Mountain Bike Tourism initiative among recovery grant recipients

5th November 2021 - Wollongong Council opens its first Mountain Bike park

29th October 2021 - Mogo Adventure Trail Hub will be major draw for mountain bikers

8th September 2021 - Campaign launched to promote Rockhampton’s mountain bike trails

9th August 2021 - Georges River Council proposes BMX/Mountain Bike Track

4th August 2021 - Common Ground Trails selected to deliver new mountain bike adventure experience

12th July 2021 - Tasmania’s West Coast Council continues to deliver mountain bike trails

4th May 2021 - Thredbo celebrates 30 years as a premier mountain bike destination

22nd March 2021 - Report reveals more than 340,000 people participate in mountain biking in Australia

3rd February 2021 - Mountain bike trails upgraded in Margaret River and Perth Hills

29th January 2021 - Gold Coast Hinterland poised to become significant mountain biking destination

11th December 2020 - Six-hectare mountain bike park opens in Sydney’s Northern Beaches

20th October 2020 - Mountain Bike Trails to be built on Tasmania’s Mt Owen

22nd November 2019 - Major mountain bike trail opens in Tasmania

8th December 2018 - New Caloundra mountain bike trail set to entertain locals and visitors

10th September 2016 - Mt Buller to host the third annual Australian Mountain Bike Summit

3rd April 2016 - All Mountain trail to boost Thredbo’s status as Australia’s ultimate mountain bike destination

7th December 2014 - Legendary mountain bike race returns to Alice Springs in 2015

20th May 2013 - Cairns to host Mountain Bike World Cup events

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.