August 26, 2006 (Rotorua, New Zealand) – The threatening weather held off in time for the last of the elite men to make their way down Rotorua’s epic downhill course. Thousands of fans were jammed in from top to bottom with megaphones, noise makers and plenty of beer to cheer on their favourites. To say they were rowdy would be an understatement.

Sam Hill (AUS) proved to everyone that he did indeed have the legs to out-pedal the best in the sport by powering his way down the mountain to an impressive 4-second win.

“I knew I was riding good. I was pretty nervous [in the gate], waiting to see what happened,” Hill said of fellow countrymen Nathan Rennie coming down behind him.

Rennie and South African Greg Minaar, both pre-race favorites, rounded out the podium in third and second respectively. “I didn’t want to know Sam’s time,” Rennie said later. As the top qualifier, Rennie was the final rider and had to wait out every other rider before he got his chance to take to the course. He came down to screaming fans, but could only sprint his way into third place.

Minnaar joked afterwards that he seems “”¦to have a collection of 2nds and 3rds” from the DH Worlds. “I ran flat out” was as much as he had to say about his run.

The Canadian crew was lead by Andrew Mitchell who placed 27th followed by Luke Kitzanuk in 32nd and Tyler Morland in 42nd spot.

Elite Women’s DH

For the women, Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) gave the Monster Ironhorse trade team a double-win by taking home the gold in the women’s event. “I was waiting for so long for this, it’s like a dream,” said a beaming Jonnier post-race. Second-place finisher Tracey Moseley (GBR) added that the crowd was “absolutely amazing”.

Rounding out the podium in third was Rachel Atherton (GBR) who was riding with a recently dislocated shoulder. She slipped walking the course section yesterday in practice and popped it out. She was taken to a local hospital by ambulance, but managed to rest up enough to ride the finals. “My shoulder is a bit painful. I was thinking about it on course,” she said adding that it may have slowed her down slightly in the high speed section due to being overly cautious.

Canada’s Danika Shroeter, who was 4th in the DH seeding runs, had the best run for the Canucks finishing a respectable 13th with teammate Claire Buchar close behind in 15th and Adrienne Miller in 18th.

Results

Men – 2.2 km

1 Samuel Hill (Australia) 3.11.03 (41.46 Km/h)
2 Greg Minnaar (South Africa) 3.15.25
3 Nathan Rennie (Australia) 3.17.16
4 Steve Peat (Great Britain) 3.17.92
5 Chris Kovarik (Australia) 3.18.04
6 Michael Hannah (Australia) 3.19.21
7 Cédric Gracia (France) 3.19.73
8 Matti Lehikoinen (Finland) 3.20.79
9 Gee Atherton (Great Britain) 3.20.91
10 Mickael Pascal (France) 3.21.13
11 Andrew Neethling (South Africa) 3.21.44
12 Marc Beaumont (Great Britain) 3.22.78
13 Bryn Atkinson (Australia) 3.23.12
14 Filip Polc (Slovakia) 3.24.49
15 David Vazquez Lopez (Spain) 3.25.24
16 Dan Atherton (Great Britain) 3.25.58
17 Amiel Cavalier (Australia) 3.25.83
18 Markolf Berchtold (Brazil) 3.26.88
19 Duncan Riffle (USA) 3.27.57
20 Luke Strobel (USA) 3.27.69
21 John Kirkcaldie (New Zealand) 3.27.74
22 Oscar Saiz Castañe (Spain) 3.27.92
23 Des Curry (New Zealand) 3.28.69
24 Cody Warren (USA) 3.28.77
25 Jared Rando (Australia) 3.30.76
26 Michal Marosi (Czech Republic) 3.31.25
27 Andrew Mitchell (Canada) 3.31.77
28 Samuel Zbinden (Switzerland) 3.32.52
29 Adam Vagner (Czech Republic) 3.32.55
29 Christopher Herndon (USA) 3.32.55
31 Claudio Caluori (Switzerland) 3.33.35
32 Luke Kitzanuk (Canada) 3.33.38
33 Evan Turpen (USA) 3.33.40
34 Cole Bangert (USA) 3.33.65
35 Kieran Bennett (New Zealand) 3.33.75
36 Carlo Gambirasio (Italy) 3.35.27
37 Justin Havukainen (USA) 3.37.30
38 R. Leiva Figueroa (Chile) 3.37.40
39 Naoki Idegawa (Japan) 3.38.36
40 Nathan Rankin (New Zealand) 3.38.71
41 Gerard Wolfe (Ireland) 3.40.31
42 Tyler Morland (Canada) 3.42.26
43 Jonty Neethling (South Africa) 3.42.45
44 Glenn Haden (New Zealand) 3.42.96
45 Santiago De Santiago (Argentina) 3.43.28
46 Julien Camellini (France) 3.45.44
47 Gary Barnard (South Africa) 3.51.29
48 Daniel Auerswald (Germany) 3.53.01
49 Justin Leov (New Zealand) 3.55.90
50 Johan Potgieter (South Africa) 3.57.32
51 Tom Holland (New Zealand) 4.17.11
52 Alfred Salgado Medina (Puerto Rico) 4.22.98
53 Nathaniel Giacomozzi (Brazil) 4.27.26
54 Sven Martin (South Africa) 4.46.21
55 Tiago Knorst (Brazil) 4.54.27
56 Pablo Daniel Cingolani (Argentina) 5.25.55
DNF Alan Beggin (Italy)
DNF Stephen McClintock (Ireland)
DNF Livio Zampieri (Italy)
DNS Claudio Cozzi (Italy)

Women – 2.2 km

1 Sabrina Jonnier (France) 3.50.32 (34.39 Km/h)
2 Tracy Moseley (Great Britain) 3.53.83
3 Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) 3.57.80
4 Melissa Buhl (USA) 4.00.40
5 Emmeline Ragot (France) 4.01.03
6 Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain) 4.02.22
7 Vanessa Quin (New Zealand) 4.04.20
8 Céline Gros (France) 4.04.94
9 Jennifer Makgill (New Zealand) 4.05.47
10 Kathleen Pruitt (USA) 4.07.53
11 Scarlett Hagen (New Zealand) 4.09.71
12 Helen Gaskell (Great Britain) 4.09.88
13 Danika Schroeter (Canada) 4.16.04
14 Amy Laird (New Zealand) 4.20.25
15 Claire Buchar (Canada) 4.25.13
16 Sheryl Macleod (New Zealand) 4.25.62
17 Claire Whiteman (Australia) 4.26.79
18 Adrienne Miller (Canada) 4.27.37
19 Jacqueline Harmony (USA) 4.34.14
20 Lauren Campbell (New Zealand) 4.37.40
21 Anka Martin (South Africa) 4.39.42
22 Rika Olivier (South Africa) 4.43.95
23 Emma McNaughton (Australia) 4.46.28
24 Anita Molcik (Austria) 4.48.03
25 Olivia Johnston (New Zealand) 4.51.77
26 Sarah Booth (Australia) 5.09.45
27 Hannah Latta (New Zealand) 5.38.74
28 Diana Marggraff (Equador) 6.03.14