A change in disciplines has paid off for Halfmoon Bay's Katherine Short as the cross-country cyclist turned downhill racer will be competing on behalf of Canada at the world championships Aug. 31.
"I am really extremely flattered and I feel super excited. It's been a goal of mine since I first started racing to represent Canada at the world championships," Short said.
The 2011 UCI Mountain Bike and Trial World Championships will be held in Champery Switzerland from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 and Short will be competing in the elite women's category.
After 11 years spent training and competing as a cross-country racer and finding some success, Short realized she was not going to be able to reach her goal of competing on behalf of Canada in the sport. Short is the first local female downhill racer to secure a spot in the world championships.
"I love cross-country and I always will, but it's a sport that unless you want to dedicate your entire life to doing it, it's hard to be successful in," she said. "It requires tons of training and expensive coaching. It requires countless hours a day to train and to recover and basically unless you're willing to dedicate your whole life to it, it's something that's hard to be successful in."
Short saw making it to the world's in downhill racing as a more manageable pursuit.
"I feel like downhill is an easier sport to be able to live as well as race," she said. "You can still go to school, you can still work, you can still do day-to-day things and also be successful in the sport just because it doesn't require the same amount of training."
She started training for downhill last December and as soon as the season started in April, Short starting racking up the wins.
She won the B.C. Cup overall standings, the Fat Tire Criterium at Crankworx, the western open and came in fourth at the national championships.
"I had a bit of a crash and couldn't podium, but I guess that's the way it goes," Short said of the narrow loss.
She also came in fifth at the Crankworx Garbanzo DH and came in third in the American series Pro DRT.
The world championships will end the season for Short who hopes to come home with a top 10 finish.
"That's my goal. To at least make top 10," she said.
The only stumbling block for Short may be the cost to get there, which is not covered by the Canadian government.
"It's kind of embarrassing actually. Canada is the only country in the world that doesn't fund their athletes to go to the world championships," Short added.
She is currently trying to raise the approximately $3,000 needed to get to the championships and she hopes the community will get behind her.
"I have no expectations of the community donating $3,000, but if anyone is interested in helping send me to the championships I would be super grateful," said the 22-year-old racer.
If you would like to help you can donate to an account Short has set up at the Sunshine Coast Credit Union. The account number is 67197. For more information you can contact Short by email at [email protected].
