Sam Hill (cyclist)
Sam Hill winning the last round of the MTB UCI World Cup in Méribel (2014)
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Hill |
| Born |
21 July 1985 Viveash, Australia |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Mountain Bike |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Downhill |
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Medal record
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Sam Hill (born 21 July 1985 in Viveash, Western Australia), is an Australian professional downhill mountain biker. He was two time consecutive UCI World Downhill Champion during years 2006–2007 for Iron Horse racing team. He won the 2010 world championships in Mont Saint Anne, riding for the Monster Energy Specialized team on a Specialized Demo 8 II. He also won the 2007 and 2009 UCI Elite Men's Downhill World Cup (Overall). In December 2012 it was announced that Hill had signed for the Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof team.
In 2001, aged 16 years old, Sam Hill first came into the international mountain bike racing scene, attending his first overseas race travelling Canada and the US. He came third at the Vail World Championships in the Under 19(Junior) Downhill event.
In 2002 he won the Under 19 Australian Championships. The same year he was crowned Junior Downhill World Champion at the World Championships in Kaprun, Austria.
In 2003, aged just 18, Hill won both the Australian and Oceania Downhill Championships in the Elite category. He then went on to successfully defend his Junior World Champion title in Lugano, Switzerland.
He starred in the 2010 mountain bike movie Follow Me.
Sam Hill is known for his skill in riding steep, technical courses as opposed to flatter courses that require pedaling. He has regularly won on one of the steeper, more technical tracks on the World Cup Circuit, Schladming. His famous run in Champery (2007) is also testament to his remarkably high skill level on technical courses. Sam achieved a 2nd-place finish in Rd. 3 of the 2016 Enduro World Series in Ireland on a course that required significant pedaling strength and technical ability.
2003 Downhill World Championships, Lugano, Switzerland At the time Sam was only 18 years of age and still in the junior class (Under 19). He went into this race as the favourite to win the junior title. The track was also perfect for Sam's style, steep and technical. Eric Carter, the mtb legend saw Sam riding for the first time at this race and said of him, "He went through a section so fast, and it was so rocky and muddy and loose, that I couldn't understand... how he made his bike do what it did". During his race run he had a crash but still managed to walk away with the junior title, but somewhat surprisingly he came third out of all the times on the day. If he had stayed on he would have surely beaten Greg Minaar for the fastest time and the Senior Men's World Title at the age of 18.
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