Megan Pretorius finishes first in the 2026 Canadian Downhill Championships

Megan Pretorius, one of Sun Peaks’ very own ambassadors, took home first place in the Dunbar Summer Series 2026 Canadian Downhill Championships in the under 17 category, finishing with a time of five minutes and 10 seconds.

The Kamloops local and third year competitor with Gravity MTB Racing has been riding since she was a little girl and competing on her home turf in Sun Peaks felt natural.

“It was like any other race, but my race run just went really well,” Pretorius said. 

“Really well” is a bit of an understatement for the athlete who finished with the fastest time of the day among the female cohort, zipping ahead of the competition by nearly 15 seconds.

Despite an unlucky start to her season, when Pretorius broke her collarbone for the second time, she’s maintained a positive attitude and risen podium after podium. 

Pretorius also attended Crankworx from July 27 to Aug. 1, where she flew down the OG Canadian Open Downhill track, finishing with a time of three minutes and 23 seconds. 

“Other than early in the season, I didn’t crash or anything and I had good runs in most of my races,” she said.

With world cups in mind, 15-year-old Pretorius is excited to be able to race at the junior level in only a couple years. 

“I just want to race world cups for a while, and hopefully win some of them,” she said. 

Pretorius is eager for the fall season, when her team will be heading to Utah for the U.S. Open. 

“I’m really excited for that because it’s a big race,” she said.