The original Canadian Open Downhill (OG CDN OPN DH) is back after a three-year absence, so it's only fitting that a pair of riders not seen in Whistler for some time rose to the occasion.
Luke Meier-Smith and Mille Johnset each took care of business on Saturday afternoon to grab gold. Meier-Smith (2:45.004) edged out his fellow Australian Jackson Frew (2:45.283). Johnset established breathing room (3:12.573) over the elite ladies' field and top qualifier Kailey Skelton crashed out, unable to podium.
Frew's runner-up effort bolstered his no. 2 spot in the King of Crankworx aggregate as local favourite Dane Jewett clocked in third behind him (2:46.769). Emmy Lan netted silver on her side of things (3:16.470), leaving Indy Deavoll to claim bronze (3:17.331).
Queen of Crankworx frontrunner Jordy Scott lined up valuable points in fifth (3:21.843) and incumbent King Ryan Gilchrist managed 13th (2:52.752).
"Pretty clean run," assessed Meier-Smith. "I raced [the OG venue] back in 2019 when I was a junior, so it's been a few years but this track suits me pretty well. I always love this place: the bike park's awesome, awesome trails, and the crew do an awesome job of maintaining it all."
Johnset's most recent competition in Whistler also occurred six years ago, which to her feels like a lifetime in the rearview. She said: "It's a really fun track, really loose, so it's not really my home feeling because in Norway, we don't get so much dust. So much fun…Crankworx has been going almost as long as I've been alive, so it's really cool seeing it do so well. I think it's the riders' favourite event to do during the year. Everyone comes here for the riding, but also for the vibe."
Constant development
Rain earlier in the week gave way to increasingly dry conditions, keeping athletes on their toes. Meier-Smith tweaked his bike setup in response, while Johnset felt that she needed to adjust her riding style and evolve with the "constant development" on track.
Likewise, Lan adopted a cautious approach in training and seeding in her attempt to build towards a fruitful outcome. She unleashed on race day, felt that the course was less intimidating than it had been before, and even took pole position in the Canada Cup downhill series along the way.
"It's super awesome racing at home, obviously, and Mille is one of my really good friends so it's super cool going one-two," Lan commented. "All of these races like 1199 and Canadian OG, they feel special because they're at home with all the familiar faces. I've actually never been leading the [Canada Cup] series before. I feel like I've done so many races in previous years, but I've always missed a few so I never got the actual leader's jersey. I didn't even know that was going to happen."
Mountain bike fans might recognize Lan for her past handiwork on long stages, but she had this to say about focusing on a different discipline: "Enduro is super fun and I'll always love enduro, but I think there's no feeling that compares to when you're in a downhill race and there's so many people on the sides and you are going as fast as you possibly can. It's such a cool adrenaline rush. Enduro kind of gives you that—but not to the same level."
Jewett attacked out of the gate, eager to improve on his unmatched seeding run, but quickly found himself making error after error. He tried to compensate, but went fully offline at a key moment and could do little else to recover his hopes of victory.
"This was my first time ever racing this track, so it was a bit different because it was pretty gnarly and full-on," said the Squamolian. "There are just so many aggressive sections where you have to be off the brakes. That's what causes the mistakes and I just cooked it a bit too hard.
"It's pretty disappointing that I can't race with [my injured brother] Jakob for my first year of elite, but trying to hold the Jewett family up with some good results. Now I know the pace is there, so I've just got to trust it—and if I make a mistake, just let it blow by because I know I can be one of the fastest here."
'Those who dared won'
After a long and challenging winter at home, Frew felt a bit more pressure than normal to manifest a podium appearance that he felt was vital. He directed praise towards the OG venue, to trail crews for keeping it in tip-top shape, and to Meier-Smith for being "a consummate professional" who leaves no stone unturned in training.
Frew's 694 points nudge him closer to Gilchrist's 904, but there's more work to be done.
"We're always out here swinging for the fence and this is just the first home run we're going to hit, I think," remarked the Canberra native. "I'm not looking at the points. I don't have the app open on my phone, I don't really care. Every race is an opportunity…I missed the first stop [in Christchurch] so I'm pretty far back, but it's a bonus to be in this position already."
Gilchrist soldiers on despite an upper-body injury that happened during a brutal crash this May in Cairns. He still has very limited mobility in his left wrist, but is grateful that his dreams of kingship remain very much intact. The Aussie enters Whistler with nearly twice as big a lead as he had in 2024, but knows there's just as much to lose as to gain.
"I'm trying to get my body all the way to the finish line because you can't win King of Crankworx in a hospital," Gilchrist quipped. "I raced 1199 last year, but this is my first time finishing in the Boneyard for downhill and…all I can think of when racing this track is Stevie Smith and him absolutely sending it. The speed is unreal, the pace that everybody's rocking with is astounding and astonishing. He who dares wins, and those who dared won."
Last but not least, there's Scott, whose 782 points give her a margin of error over second-overall Sabina Košárková (600). Scott faltered in practice but regained form when it mattered most—and with lots of extra downhill training banked, she's confident to avoid a repeat of her weeklong Whistler slump from the previous July.
"I was struggling last year starting with all the downhill races, and I hadn't rode my downhill bike in a year," admitted the American. "So I really wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time. Last year I felt like I won a bunch of the small bike races, and Martha [Gill] still managed to edge me out with her consistent results in downhill. I just want to be a bit more well-rounded and get on as many podiums as I can instead of winning a few races and then getting 11th."
For more results, visit https://www.crankworx.com/results/.
