Final Results: Leogang Downhill World Championships 2020

 I think the lottery references are more toward the differing track conditions between riders, not speaking to anyone's skill or a mythical lottery of staying upright. Every single rider after Wilson lost 2-3 seconds on that lower-middle sector, irregardless of what happened above or below, even if they stayed upright. At the end of the day luck is only a small part including skill, and Wilson no doubt had both.

 Congrats to Reece! To be fair though, his time was six seconds slower than the best qualification time of Loris Vergier. It was a lottery, because many great riders just slid off in the forest section no matter how hard they tried.

 True, but deteriorating track conditions shouldn’t also have such a large part in determining the World Champs.

 @RabWardell: Agreed, the conditions were much worse and that's why it was a lottery. In order to win a lottery you need skills, risk taking ability and luck. Reece pulled this off and won.
PS I disagree with Azonicds statement above about lottery being an excuse...

 @GrandMasterOrge:Agreed, the conditions were much worse and that's why it was a lottery. In order to win a lottery you need skills, risk taking ability and luck. Reece pulled this off and won. I disagree with Azonicds statement above about lottery being an excuse...

 I’m surprised that a British commenter with all the typical British pride only gives credit to a Swiss winner but not to the winner from his own country...

 Could of done better on the third flat

 @cuban-b: surely you’re wrong

 @TheBearDen: Excuse us rest of the world for being incredibly confused by everything UK. I thought Great Britain includes Scotland and Wales but not Northern Ireland. Seems like those cheering for GB could just as well be cheering for Scotland as well as it is just part of it, innit?

That said, I don't give a crap about the whole nationalist ego surrounding sports. Especially in DH racing, how much do the national sports federations even contribute to these athletes? To me it is largely the teams and sometimes personal energy drink supplier who contribute most. Not always, I know. I recall back when she was competing in WC 4X, Anneke Beerten was training with the national BMX team and could use the olympic training facilties. But I thought that was largely because the head coach was an ex team mate (Bas de Bever). Joost Wichman (another4X world champ from the same country) never got that treatment. Aside from France, do World Championship gravity mtb athletes in other countries get any considerable support from their national sports federation? If not, seems like there is little reason to go all 'murrica-like about it. Cheer for whoever you want to cheer for. You see in other sports where people cheer primarily for which country someone is from and I don't see it do any good.

So yeah, please keep this shit at bay. Sure feel proud if you're feeling it, but if Rob is genuinely stoked for anyone regardless of where that rider comes from, that is great in its own right and doesn't need anything to balance it out.

 @TheBearDen: If you were trying to make this point in that one and a half sentence then sorry for missing it. Using more words does have its merits, you might like to consider it if you insist on getting your point across. Who was on topic is even up for debate.

@jaame: Yeah, I'm aware of this too. But I hate the olympics (because of even more nationalism and nations' pride over athletes' backs). Either way, yeah I don't get why sometimes it seems like they mean to say UK and then say GB. Don't mean to go too deep into politics but with the whole Brexit issue I initially thought "just leave with GB then and leave Northern Ireland with the Irish" but well, apparently they did want more of an UKxit. That said, I'm not sure about the Welsh but I recall the Scottish didn't want to leave EU either. So let's just keep it a Englaxit and call it a day .

But back to (what I'd call) on topic, let people just cheer for whoever they want to cheer for, regardless of where they come from.

 @TheBearDen: what flag was next to Reece Wilson’s name on the screen? Right... it was the UK flag. So whether Reece is a Scottish guy living in the UK or vice versa, I assume the UK flag wasn’t there by mistake. Am I wrong?

 @Edendino: make German Nationalism great again

 @cuban-b: let people chat and stop being a d**k

 @annekebeerten: Ah, I was clearly wrong about Joost then! I was following your articles as well as Jill's during the 4X competition (loved to see both perspectives). Joost also had a website though I don't recall having seen him write about training at the olympic facilities. Nor do I recall seeing him in your pictures with the BMX team, though obviously it is hard to recognize people with goggles and full face helmets. Either way, I was wrong there, sorry! Initially national teams and all seemed cool to me too. Then the more I learned about Eastern European female athletes being drugged and abused "to make their countries proud" (and still not getting proper recognition and respect), national team "supporters" collectively going hateful towards people supporting other countries' athletes. I was also in a team once that won a big event (solar car racing, nothing bike related or even athletic) and sure it was cool. But soon enough I felt sickened by how the effort was being used for national or even political purposes. It seemed like this prime minister couldn't stop trying to associate himself with the team. So yeah, maybe I have more negative associations with the link between sports and nationalism than others. So if someone is being slammed for crediting a winner from an other country it kind of hits a wrong string with me. Cheer for whoever you want to cheer for, regardless of where they come from.

As for your name popping up here, it still does! I recently asked why you weren't racing slalom at the Strait Acres a few weeks ago and Rachel commented that you were concussed. So that was a bummer but more than anything, I hope your healing up properly!

@TheBearDen: Yup, feel free to not read if don't want to.

 It was pathetic to watch the racers tripod down or plunge into the mud.
I think the track was not suited for the late season at all.
If almost every rider crashes, it is not a race. Downhill is about finding small margins!
And think about all the juniors having to ride the same track early morning :-S

 @johnnyboy11000: i think you're wrong they weren't capable of riding the course. Even the best of the worlds where on tripod. Even Danny Hart was not riding this shit and he knows mud. True, this race was pathetic and it's not proper downhill (not proper biking at all). Because the win was not about riding a bike with some decent speed but about mud wrestling. You can always argue on were is the limit but when most of the best riders of the world are struggling to just walk pas the pond, it's not ok.

 Well not a real privateer. None the less an awesome run and a well deserved silver medal.

 Yeah my vpn worked yesterday but crap today. Wish Red Bull would leave the sport of DH and stick to Rampage. I miss the Freecaster days.

 Looks insane - don’t see the point of actually continuing and calling this a “race”.

 @bananowy: Not sure the other riders managed condition worst, that's the problem. Not sure that being the only one abble to not crash make you a better rider than the others... The only thing that is sure is : she was the fastest rider at the end. But let's see next year, if they deserve the Jersey (same for Reece) or if it was only a lottery victory.

 @Brklss: worked for 30 seconds.... failed again. Pathetic coverage from a pathetic bunch of twats. Thanks anyway though dude