BOX rider Katy Curd is coming to terms with the greatest achievement of her career after winning the UCI 4X world title in Austria last weekend.

The 25-year-old pulled on the champion’s rainbow jersey following what was her final 4X race as she claimed a dramatic triumph in Leogang.

Curd, who is turning her attention to the downhill (time trial) format of the mountain bike discipline, overcame obstacles including a puncture in qualifying to lift the crown ahead of 2012 champion Anneke Beerten, of Holland.

She said: “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’ve been picked for the (British) team four or five times, but realistically for the first couple of years I probably wasn’t good enough to win.

“In the last few years I’ve been on top of my game and not got the results I wanted.

“I was holding back the tears. It was pretty emotional knowing how much I’d put into it.’’ Curd won silver in the event last year and saw her hopes take a hit in qualifying as a puncture forced her to have the last gate selection through each round.

But her decision to take on two big jumps at the bottom of the course in the final paid dividends. She said: “Last year, on the same course, we both went for the jumps and Anneke got quite smashed up.

“I knew she wasn’t going to jump this time, so I went for it and made it.

“It was a bit of a blur. As soon as I made it (the jump), I was thinking ‘this is it’, but keep calm because you haven’t won the race.

“I’ve switched back to downhill so that was going to be my last-ever (4X) race.

“With my focus on downhill this year it was like I hadn’t even had time to think about the (4X) event until I was actually here but I’m over the moon because I’ve wanted it for so long and I finally managed to pull it off.’’

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