He's the son of an Olympian. He's the brother of a former world champion. And now Kye A'Hern has made his mark on the international stage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 18-year-old mountain biker has claimed the prestigious title of junior men's downhill world champion in Quebec.
The A'Hern family have just returned to Australia following their three month global tour, culminating with Kye's triumph.
"I was stoked that I was able to win and bring home the rainbow jersey," Kye said.
"The world championship is the biggest race of the year and it was my last opportunity being a junior. All my family were there watching me and cheering me on."
Kye comes from a family of incredible athletic ability, following in the footsteps of Olympian father Nick and 21-year-old sister Sian.
While his mother Jen is involved in their family-owned personal training business.
A former junior downhill world No.1, Sian also competed in this year's mountain bike world circuit alongside her brother.
Sian finished ninth at the world championships in the elite downhill after claiming sixth at the world cup.
Nick A'Hern is a three time Olympic speed-walker and Commonwealth Games gold medalist and has played a pivotal role in the coaching of his children.
"He's been my coach since we started. He is a personal trainer by profession so he knows what he's talking about," Kye said.
"Dad is definitely a huge help. Having a coach so close means I can always ask him a training question, even if it's late at night.
"He's a good motivator for me so I want to make him proud."
It's only fitting Kye clinched the World Championship stripes on Father's Day.
"At the end of the day it's an individual sport but there's a huge team role that is required," Kye said.
"It's a massive team effort throughout the whole weekend to get to that race run, including managers, physios and mechanics."
The championships didn't go without dilemma for Kye after breaking both bones in his left-arm before his final race.
"I slipped out on some rocks and crashed into a tree during my last practice run," Kye said.
"I broke my ulnar, radius and dislocated my wrist as well.
"I winded myself really badly so I focused on that but when I looked over, I saw my wrist sideways and not where it should be."
The injury was just one of many major challenges over his world tour, which stretched across Europe and North America. The 18-year-old suffered bouts of home sickness and dealt with tiring schedules.
"It's always hard being away from home for a long time," Kye said.
"Along the way you tend to get injuries when you have crashes in practices and while racing.
"The challenging bit is staying on top of training and staying fresh and ready to race."
While downhill mountain biking isn't an Olympic event just yet, Kye remains hopeful that it will be added to the summer games in the near future.
Meanwhile Kye will spend the off-season undergoing rehab on his wrist and preparing to kickoff the next season in April.
"The world cup is next year and I'll be racing elite for the first time," Kye said. "It's a big jump and will be a challenging year but I'm looking forward to it."
"Once I get my wrist sorted I need to keep training hard. Hopefully I can get some good results and continue to push for the No.1 spot again."
The Erindale College student has sacrificed three months of school on his world championship tour, but has been heavily supported throughout his campaign.
"Being absent from school for three months is a long time to be enrolled when you're not attending," Kye said.
"Thankfully I'm on the sports program at Erindale College.
"They were willing to help me out when I was overseas and were really lenient with my racing.
"A lot of training and sacrifices were made, especially by my parents. It's obviously not cheap to travel the world but the Canyon Factory Racing team helped make everything possible."
