![Harriet Burbidge-Smith after her win in the speed and style event in Cairns. Picture by Graeme Murray Harriet Burbidge-Smith after her win in the speed and style event in Cairns. Picture by Graeme Murray](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/3c6da932-33d8-4831-9f02-10828ee9e32f.jpg/r0_263_5143_3166_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Harriet Burbidge-Smith had to take a leap of faith to send herself to new mountain-biking heights, so it was fitting a flip landed her Crankworx gold in front of 5000 fans in Cairns.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Canberra cycling star is back in Australia for the first time since March and she made an instant impact at the first Crankworx event in her home country.
The 25-year-old won gold in the speed and style race, committing to doing a flip off the first jump after slower-than-hoped times in the practice sessions.
It paid off, which isn't surprising given Burbidge-Smith is used to throwing caution to the wind.
She had to sell some of her possessions and move out of her apartment just to fund a trip to the United States last year. A three-week trip transformed into a Red Bull athlete deal.
"From the start of the year, it's been a goal of mine to step up and do the tricks I wanted to in the speed and style event," Burbidge-Smith said.
"The flips, the backflips ... that was a really personal goal of mine.
"In Whistler I was able to do it but I wasn't able to be consistent with the other tricks and I got fifth place.
"I came to Cairns and the jumps were a lot bigger, so on the first day and in qualifying I didn't do the flip.
"I wasn't doing great and then I don't know, overnight I just committed to the fact I was going to do it no matter what. When I got it, it just progressively felt better and in the final I did it and got on the gas. It was a pretty good feeling when I found out I won."
MORE CANBERRA SPORT
Burbidge-Smith will be chasing another medal and crucial series points in the last event of the weekend on Sunday.
She hopes to secure another strong result in the slalom after already having eight podium finishes to her name this season.
Then she'll be back in Canberra for the first time in seven months, before resetting her focus for summer competitions.
Burbidge-Smith is now just 48 points behind fellow Canberran Caroline Buchanan on the "Queen of Crankworx" standings.
"I'm really loving it here. The crowd has been insane ... everyone in Europe and America get this all the time, but we don't," Burbidge-Smith said.
"I've got the slalom next, I always give myself a chance that I can win it. It is racing, but I'm always going in to win.
"It's the last event of the weekend, you know you'll be tired. There's a lot of pedalling on this course. It's just going to be about going all out."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram