First Worlds, first podium for Canadian teenager
Micayla Gatto did Canada and the Rocky Mountain Business Objects Team proud at the 2005 World...
Micayla Gatto did Canada and the Rocky Mountain Business Objects Team proud at the 2005 World Championships in Livigno, Italy on Saturday Sept 3.
The 17 year old from Vancouver, BC has had a year of amazing progression. In only her first year racing at the national level, she has dominated junior women's downhilling. In doing so she has also posted times that were consistently competitive against the pro women's field. In preparation to race for Canada in the World Championships, the 2005 junior national champion competed with the pro women at the national series final in Sun Peaks, BC just before leaving for Italy. Micayla was second place finishing close (1.9 seconds) to the 2004 pro women's national champion and ahead of the 2005 women's pro national champion.
This followed back to back wins of the Whistler Krankworks A Line Air Downhill and Enduro Downhill Junior races in early August. This undoubtedly gave her confidence as she prepared for the biggest race of her career in Europe.
In spite of relatively little experience, Micayla handled the challenge like a pro. After a solid third-place seeding run, she backed it up with third place on race day. Rachel Atherton of Great Britain won the junior world championship title.
Micayla plans to devote herself to an attempt to better this result in New Zealand in 2006.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!