2024 Cannonball MTB Festival Day 5 - Australian Open Downhill & Dual Slalom

Day 5 of Thredbo’s 2024 Cannonball MTB Festival presented by Boost Mobile delivered another level of old school fun with the new Maxxis Dual Slalom Race. The new race was added to the schedule to celebrate 10-years of the festival, and boy did it deliver.


Yesterday, the all-new (but very old-school) dual racing format saw riders go head to head on the grass at Friday Flat with the qualifying laps in the morning followed by the final races in the evening.


Thredbo had taken a laid-back approach to the course build, utilising Friday Flat’s natural amphitheater and off camber grass turns top to bottom.


The huge crowd of spectators were treated to a massive evening of old-school thrills and spills as riders were pitted against each other and put it all on the line to score a winning time.


After some fiery heats, it was ultimately Thredbo Ambassador Caroline Buchanan who took out the win in the Pro Women Category and Luke Meier-Smith who won the Pro Men Division.


With competitors gaining points at every event throughout the week, these wins put Caroline and Luke in a good position to fight for the ultimate title of Cannonball King and Queen which will be announced at presentations tonight.


Not only do the winners of each event score some serious cash and prizes, they also lay claim to the limited edition 10-year Cannonball Championship Rings. With some riders winning multiple events already this week, it's safe to say there is some serious bling getting around the mountain.


In addition to the evening’s fun, yesterday also saw racers take on the famous Cannonball trail for the Oakley Australian Open Downhill seeding races ahead of today’s highly anticipated Downhill Finals at 11AM.


The prospect of winning today’s Downhill race has brought a huge lineup of the world’s best riders to Thredbo with the likes of Jackson Goldstone, Laurie Greenland, Nina Hoffman, Amaury Pierrion, Myriam Nicole, Ryan Gilchrist, Dylan Maples, Jack Moir, Troy Brosnan, Connor Fearon, Sian A’Hern, Kye A’Hern, Caroline Buchannan, Luke Meier-Smith, Remy Meier-Smith, Oliver Zwar, Jackson Connelly, Jackson Frew, Tegan Cruz, Oisin O’Callaghan and Kasper Wooley all here to compete.


If the practice laps and seeding races are anything to go by, today’s Oakley Australian Open Downhill Final races will be a battle for the ages. It looks like last year’s champions Jackson Goldstone and Sian A’Hern are well and truly fighting to keep their titles after they both took out P1 in seeding.


Following the Downhill finals today, the iconic invite-only Deity Whip Wars event will kick off. Always bringing in a huge crowd, this event puts on a spectacular show with a lineup of the greatest mountain bikers sending it sideways on a massive jump in the heart of the event hub.


Once all the action is done, everyone will head to Alpine Bar for presentations, where the winners will be announced for the Oakley Australian Open Downhill and the Deity Whip Wars plus the Cannonball King and Queen will be officially crowned for 2024.


Bring on the final day of racing!