Sport

The North Coast’s very own World Champ

Glendale resident and mountain biking whirlwind Natalie Bergstrom took home the gold at the UCI MTB Masters World Championships held in Pietermaritzburg over the weekend.

Bergstrom’s division included all female competitors between the ages of 40 and 44, while the 581 contenders throughout the event represented 30 different countries from around the world. “I’m on top of the world,” she said in an interview on Monday, “I am number one. You can’t beat this.”
After winning her race by a whopping two and a half minutes in the flat out cross country event, which consisted of three 7,5km laps, Bergstrom officially became the world champion in her division.
The extremely technical track at Cascades MTB park was particularly gruelling, and proved too much for some of the riders. “Some of the guys came out very sore,” said Bergstrom, citing some of the competitors who had sustained broken bones and worse.
“If you make one mistake, it can cost you the race,” she said, “I’d say 70 percent of it is the mind game. If your head’s not right from the beginning, you’re already going backwards.”
Bergstrom’s mind is already on the next race. When asked if she could have a rest she laughed and exclaimed, “the weekend was my rest!”
Despite an intense training regime and an iron commitment to the sport, Bergstrom is first a mother and a wife.
“Nev’s been my rock,” she said, referring to her husband Neville, who is also her technician during her races, “I could never have done this without him.”
“Daddy’s number one,” she said to her daughter, gesturing to her medal, “This belongs more to him than to me.”

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