At the recent MTB Championship in Norway, everyone except for the last rider finished their run through the course. 24-year-old Josh Bryceland from the UK was favoured to win and just came off a fantastic season, which included winning the World Cup overall. His great skills and excellent bike control were on display throughout the race, even though the terrain was extremely difficult in Hafjell.
Thousands of spectators watched Josh’s ride in anticipation of the exciting climax to the competition. He was the fastest at the first two splits and looked to be having a great run, until he landed too late on one jump over the bridge in the final 200 meters. He overshot it, launched high into the air and landed so hard that his foot fell of the pedal and slammed into the ground.
(Note Josh’s left foot dangling off the pedal. Photo: Profimedia.cz)
Fortunately, Josh was able to hold on to the handlebars until the finish line with his left foot dangling off the pedal. He free-wheeled his way, with his injured foot, to cross the finish line, but sadly his timing error had cost him the title. Instead he secured silver just 0.4 seconds behind his British teammate Gee Atherton. As soon as he mentioned he thought his ankle was broken, fellow riders and security staff immediately surrounded him and made sure they got him to the podium.
Afterwards, Josh was taken straight to the hospital, where he underwent surgery and is currently recovering. It was truly a heroic performance to steal the silver medal with such an injury and pain! We wish him all the best and a quick recovery!
