In what was a stunning night for Australia at the 2009 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships at Stromlo Forest Park in Canberra, Jared Graves and local heroine Caroline Buchanan have claimed a golden double in the four cross (4X - non-Olympic) events.

Racing under lights, Queensland’s Graves and Canberra’s Buchanan won Australia’s first medals of the championships after both went through the night undefeated before holding firm in the medal round under the enormous pressure the boisterous crowd brought to claim gold.

For Graves, who last year was a finalist in the BMX at the Beijing Olympic Games, the victory was confirmation of his undeniable status as the best 4X rider in the world after he entered these championships as the World Cup Series leader and world number one. He also won the World Cup round in Canberra last season.

Buchanan’s victory was an even more remarkable performance given the young Australian badly injured her back in Austria just six weeks ago training for a 4X World Cup event in Slovenia.

While she courageously made it onto the start line to win that event she was subsequently forced to withdraw from the Australian team for last month’s BMX World Championships in Adelaide.

Graves, 26, who was the top finisher in yesterday’s qualifying round and won his round of 32, quarter final and semi final tonight before the medal decider, said he had entered the competition with a telling carefree attitude.

"I felt a bit calmer today than I normally would at a world titles final,” Graves said. “I was saying to different people earlier in the week that I have lost this race enough to know that life goes on if you don't win it.

"That’s the biggest goal I’ve had in mountain biking so to pull it off just after the bad run of luck I have had in the last three years in a row now is just awesome.

“I knew I had a really good last practice session I knew if I kept it all night I knew I would get it.

"I did that, I can’t explain how it feels so it’s just unbelievable."

Graves also said he was helped by his Olympic experience last year.

"I think I have taken my training to another level this year from last year with the Olympic BMX," he said. "I learnt a lot last year. I think I have come into this year a bit smarter and I mean this is the ultimate race right here. You know it doesn't get any better.”

Romain Saladini of France, the only rider all night that looked to have any hope of beating Graves, won silver with 17-year-old World Championship debutant, Jakub Riha from the Czech Republic third.

Of the other Australians, Leigh Darrell, Ryan Henderson, Sam Willoughby and Beijing BMX Olympian Luke Madill all bowed out in the quarter finals, while Randal Huntington was eliminated in the round of 32.

In the women’s event home town star and 2008 Canberra World Cup winner, Buchanan, 18, won all three of her rounds including a thrilling final to claim the gold medal from last night’s top qualifier and world ranked number three Jill Kintner of the USA.

American Melissa Buhl won the bronze medal. Dutch woman Anneke Beerten, the world ranked number one, missed the final but won the consolation ‘small final’.

A jubilant Buchanan could hardly contain her emotions after winning her gold.

“Out of 13 years of racing I’ve never won a world title, I’ve always been so close but today I just really wanted it,” a teary Buchanan said.

“I pushed so hard and I feel so sick at the moment (but) I’m stoked, I’m over the moon and I can’t believe it.”

Buchanan said she knew she could win almost as soon as the start gate dropped.

“It felt awesome, I started crying from about halfway down the track, I was screaming the whole way and from the start I knew that I had it. I was psyched up, I was ready. I can’t believe it.”

Sarsha Huntington, the only other Australian in the field, finished fourth in her semi finals before placing third in the ‘small final’ for seventh overall.

Cycling Australia