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Americans Jill Kintner and Melissa Buhl take silver and bronze medals at world MTB championships

Australians win both four-cross gold medals on their home track

By Agence France Presse
Published: Sep. 4, 2009

Australians Jared Graves and Caroline Buchanan claimed a golden double in the four-cross events at the UCI world mountain bike championships in Canberra, Australia Friday.

Americans Jill Kintner and Melissa Buhl took silver and bronze, respectively, in the women's four-cross behind Buchanan.

Graves and Buchanan won Australia's first medals of the championships after each went through the night session undefeated before holding firm in the medal round to claim gold at Stromlo Forest Park.

The victory for Graves, who last year was a finalist in BMX at the Beijing Olympic Games, confirmed his status as the world's best 4X rider after he entered the championships as the World Cup Series leader and world number one.

Frenchman Romain Saladini, the only rider who looked to have any hope of beating Graves, won silver with teenage world championship debutant, Jakub Riha from the Czech Republic, third.

In the women's event, Buchanan, 18, won all three of her rounds including a thrilling final to claim the gold medal from Thursday's top qualifier and world ranked number three Kintner.

Dutchwoman Anneke Beerten, the world ranked number one, missed the final but won the consolation final.


For more on the upcoming Mountain Bike World Championships, visit VeloNews.com's sister site, Singletrack.com.