Rossland’s Bodhi Kuhn named to Canada’s downhill team for world championships
The Rossland rider returns to Val di Sole, where he won a junior World Cup race in 2023, after posting career-best results on the elite circuit this season.
Rossland downhill racer Bodhi Kuhn competes on the international circuit. Kuhn has been selected to Canada’s elite men’s downhill team for the 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy.
Photo courtesy Norco adidas Race Division / photographer credit as supplied.
Rossland downhill racer Bodhi Kuhn will represent Canada at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Italy next week, returning to a venue where he recorded one of the biggest wins of his junior career.
Kuhn has been named to Canada’s elite men’s downhill team for the championships, which run Aug. 26 to 30 in Val di Sole.
Cycling Canada’s updated final selection, released Aug. 21, lists Kuhn as a Priority 2 selection alongside Michael Delesalle and Jakob Jewett. Defending world champion Jackson Goldstone of Squamish is Canada’s Priority 1 selection in elite men.
For Kuhn, the trip marks a return to familiar ground. As a junior in 2023, he won a UCI Downhill World Cup race at Val di Sole, finishing in 3:43.788 and beating American Ryan Pinkerton by 0.929 seconds.
Weeks later, Kuhn came within half a second of a junior world championship.
At the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland, he finished the junior men’s downhill in 4:31.145, just 0.418 seconds behind Germany’s Henri Kiefer. The silver medal was Canada’s first of those championships.
Kuhn had already established himself among the leading junior downhill riders internationally. He finished fifth at the junior world championships in 2022 before winning at Val di Sole and taking world championship silver the following season.
He has since moved into the elite ranks and now races with the Norco adidas Race Division.
Norco reported in July that Kuhn had recorded three career-best finishes during the first half of the 2026 World Cup season, including a ninth-place result at La Thuile, Italy. The team said the results marked progress after a 2025 season affected by injuries and other setbacks.
Kuhn’s 2026 season has also included another injury challenge. Norco reported July 24 that he had crashed during the World Cup round in Andorra and was recovering ahead of the next round in France. He remains on Canada’s updated final world championship roster released Aug. 21.
The world championships will be held on Val di Sole’s Black Snake downhill course at Daolasa di Commezzadura. The course includes rock gardens and high-speed chutes and has hosted World Cup and world championship racing for years.
Junior and elite downhill qualifying is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 28. The downhill world titles will be decided Saturday, Aug. 29, with the elite men’s final scheduled for 3 p.m. local time.
Kuhn is among a group of British Columbia riders selected for Canada’s downhill team. Cycling BC’s Aug. 20 announcement also includes two Okanagan athletes: Noah Milner of Vernon in junior men and Tayte Proulx-Royds of Kelowna in junior women. Cycling Canada’s updated roster lists both as Priority 3 selections.
Canada enters the elite men’s competition with the defending world champion. Goldstone won the elite downhill world title in 2025 and also has a strong record at Val di Sole, where he won the junior world championship in 2021 and his first elite World Cup race in 2023.
For Kuhn, this year’s championships offer another opportunity on the course where he claimed a major international victory three years ago.
The Grand Forks Border Bruins have added a forward and a defenceman as the club continues assembling its roster for the 2026–27 season. The additions come as Grand Forks prepares for the inaugural season of the British Columbia Hockey Conference.