World champs underway in Latvia and Austria

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Last Updated: Sunday, 05 August 2018 13:41

The annual world championships are underway in Latvia, where New Zealander Tim Robertson came within a second of winning Saturday's opening Sprint event.

Robertson, who won the Sprint at the World Uni Champs last month, covered the 4.3km in an incredible 14:07 (that's a km rate of 3m17s) to stun the European elites who took out 11 of the 12 podium places.

The Sprint Finals offered all kinds of obstacles – sudden showers accompanied by thunder, speed-reducing crowds of tourists, slippery cobblestone, narrow passages and yards that made route choices tricky.

Natasha Key was the only Australian to make the final - at age 46! - but mispunched.

You can follow all the action via the event website and through the OA Facebook page. Sunday is the Sprint relay, with the first leg runners off just before midnight AEST.  

Meanwhile, the MTBO world champs start in Austria on Tuesday, with the new Mass Start event the first of 5 competitions over 6 days.

Newcastle's Glen Charlton is hoping for a better experience than last year when he suffered multiple mechanical failures.

You can follow all the action via the event website and through the AUS MTBO Facebook page.