HISTORIC MEDAL FINISH FOR JEAN WILLIAM PRÉVOST AT 2024 UCI URBAN CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ottawa, ON (Dec. 21, 2024) – Jean William Prévost of Kirkland, QC, won Canada’s first-ever UCI Urban Cycling World Championship medal after three days of competition from Dec. 18-21, 2024, in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Prévost represented the red and white in the BMX Freestyle Flatland Men Elite category. His consistency was on display with fourth-place finishes in qualification and the semi-finals, ultimately leading to a bronze-medal finish with a score of 84.00 points.
“I’m happy to hit this coveted podium at Worlds. I look forward to outdoing myself next year in Riyadh,” said Prévost, who also came third overall in the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup – Flatland earlier this year. “I had an incredible experience this time around competing in Abu Dhabi. I’m stoked I could hold onto fourth place through qualifying and semis and then even climbed up on the podium to end the year.”
Matthias Dandois (FRA) captured gold on a score of 90.67 points, while silver went to Moto Sasaki (JPN) with 86.83 points.
In the BMX Freestyle Park Men Elite category, two Canadians made their way to the finals: Whitby, ON’s Mike Varga cracked the top ten in seventh place (84.88 points) and reigning Canadian Champion in BMX Freestyle Park, Maxime Chalifour of Boisbriand, QC, finished twelfth (76.70 points). Xavier Wright of Pickering, ON, made a commendable World Championship debut, placing 39th in the qualification round (24.20 points).
The gold medal went to Australia’s Logan Martin (94.30 points), with Jose Torres Gil of Argentia (91.60 points) and Justin Dowell of the United States (90.74 points) rounding out the podium.
Olympian Jeffrey Whaley was also entered in the BMX Freestyle Park Men Elite competition but was unable to compete after an injury sustained during training.
Full results from the 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships can be found here.
Team Canada – Results
Maxime Chalifour – 12th
Jean William Prévost – 3rd
Mike Varga – 7th
Jeffrey Whaley – DNS
Xavier Wright – 39th