[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHARLIE MURRAY: Hi.
It's Charlie Murray here from the Specialized Enduro Team.
We're here at the World Championships in Via di Sole,
and we're here at the downhill course.
So we're going to walk down it in a minute, check it out.
I'm supposed to be racing on the weekend.
I'm still nursing a sore shoulder
from Maribor, which is unfortunate,
but I guess that's part of racing.
The plan was to go to Maribor and race
the World Cup to try and qualify for World Champs
or get selected by the New Zealand Federation.
I had a big crash in Maribor, so I couldn't attend the race.
But, unfortunately, two or three other kiwis
also crashed in Maribor, and my crash was slightly less severe
than their broken bones, so spots opened up,
and that's how I got to be here.
It looks pretty cool.
I've never been here before, so it's sick to go to a new place.
I always love it.
SPEAKER 1: You cut in, and then you'll get to the sweet spot.
CHARLIE MURRAY: It's going to be so funny, because we're
walking down here now.
It's like, oh, yeah, this is rideable.
But then you see the speed that these guys go,
and it seems impossible.
So just finished up the track walk here in Via di Sole,
and it's pretty challenging.
It's pretty technical and physical.
Like, there's not really any chances to rest
or any breaks on the track.
You just full commitment the whole way.
And just, yeah, hopefully the body holds up
and I can get down the full run without any problems.
Yeah, I'm pretty apprehensive coming into this week just
from the big crash of Maribor, and the track is intimidating.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So it's Thursday today.
It's the practice for the downhill.
And then tomorrow's qualifying.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Just finished up with the first practice session.
It was pretty tough.
Really physical track.
Massive rocks and big holes.
We've got training for an hour, and then we've
got the qualification for the downhill.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah, it was pretty--
first run practice was tough here.
A rude awakening.
But started to warm up towards the bottom,
and it was getting better.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I finished in 75th, so not quite where
we want to be, but past the qualification round,
and just going to rest up and try our best for Sunday.
I would say my main goal was to make it down in one piece
and be able to ride the track.
Ride it without making too many mistakes and without crashing.
We're heading up for the final practice session.
Try and do one run.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
That was wild.
It's getting slippery, I reckon.
Finals coming up in a few hours, so nervous,
but looking forward to it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
SPEAKER 2: --towards the finish line.
It is Charlie Murray.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHARLIE MURRAY: Yeah, we just finished up
with first ever World Champs downhill.
Definitely was out of my depth, but I tried my best
and didn't have any crashes, which was
one of the goals for the week.
My second goal was to be close to the top 50.
I think I finished in 64th, so it's not where I want to be.
I'd love to be further up, but to walk away smiling
is a success.
It leaves me wanting more.
I still feel like I've got some improvement
I can make in downhill.
So yeah, a lot of respect for the sport of downhill because,
yeah, these guys are crazy.
I think I'll take a short break from downhill,
but I'd love to do more in the future.
Hopefully, one day, I'll be back at the World Cup or World
Champs.
[MUSIC PLAYING]