Silver by a tyre's width. That's how Evie Richards' 2026 short track world championship ended in Val di Sole; out-sprinted on the line by Austria's Laura Stigger after a race that had both the Italian crowds and me on our feet for all ten laps. It's the sort of result that could read as heartbreak or as vindication, depending on the season you've had. For Richards, though, it's probably a bit of both.
Richards arrived in Val di Sole with a palmarès few in the field can match: elite cross-country world champion in 2021, Commonwealth Games gold in 2022, two under-23 cyclo-cross world titles either side of that, and, more recently, the overall World Series short-track crown in 2025. She's a rider whose punchy full-gas style is built for exactly this kind of race: short, sharp, tactical, and flat out from the start.
