170 – We Chat with The 2020 Junior DownHill World Champion Oisin O’Callaghan

by Gareth Beckett April 25, 2023

Today Guest:

The 2020 Junior DH World Champion Oisin O’Callaghan and his father Chris O’Callaghan

On episode #170 we are chatting with Oisin and his father about their amazing 2020 downhill season, how Oisin feels being the 2020 Junior World Champion, signing with the YT Mob Team, how his training and schedule changed over this season, Oisin’s 2021 goals and how Chris has been helping his son (as always) be the very best he can be, plus much much more.

It has been almost 2 years since I had Oisin on the show back in episode #065 (listen here), and at that time after chatting with Oisin I knew this kid (he was only 15 at that time) had something special. He was super focused on his goals, he was dedicated to the sport, his training, diet and everything else that you need to be a world champion at anything you may do. But, more than that Oisin had his fathers total support and expertise behind him. This makes a massive difference to a young man at this age to help him stay on the trail and make the correct decisions that only experience can bring.

Two years later it has worked!

Join us as we chat about being Junior World Champion, just missing out on the overall title, offseason training, trips with YT, plus Oisin’s vision and goals for the 2021 season.

Enjoy the show!

Find Out:

What Oisin has been doing differently over the last couple of years to become World Champion (if anything)
How Oisin felt after winning the DH World Champion title
How Chris was helping Oisin over this time
Why Oisin loves his YT weapons so much
How YT has helped Oisin over the season
The best things about having the support of a professional team behind you
How Chris feels about what his son has achieved
How Oisin felt just missing the overall title
How this has made him think about his 2021 offseason
What he is doing with YT over the offseason
Other plans over the offseason
Oisin’s goals for the 2021 race season
How to get in contact and follow Oisin & Chris

It was great to get Oisin and Chris back on the show and have a catch up with everything that has been going on over the last couple of years. You would think that the step up to Juniors for Oisin would have its challenges, a number of new competitors, a new team, and possibly a little more pressure to perform and get results, but Oisin has taken it all in his stride and loves the extra confidence that being part of a professional team brings.

Oisin says himself that it is a huge advantage to have a professional team in your corner. You get to do what you do best, concentrate on racing, learn lines, and race as fast and as hard as you can. All the other stuff like bike maintenance, food, travel arrangements, accommodation etc…are looked after by your team. This allows Oisin to fully concentrate on the task at hand, get his mind in the right place and race.

Now it is hard to believe when chatting to Oisin that he is still only 17 years old. He seems to have come a long way, but really for Oisin and Chris it is just the natural progression of what they have been doing since Oisin was 5 or 6, riding bikes, entering races (winning most of them), and having fun while doing it. So even though things have changed massively, in many ways things have stayed the same.

Chris has always been a great driving force for Oisin to fall back on, as father and son their connection in racing and life is easy to see and as a partnership it works beautifully. Chris obviously has played a massive part in Oisin achieving what he has, and most likely wouldn’t have the same level of success if it was not for his father, but Oisin also helps Chris in many ways. Is it not amazing to be sharing this with your son? Does it not bring you closer together as a family, especially at this age when a lot of families drift apart? As a parent is this not what you want in life…to let your kids chase their dreams and enjoy life to the full? Well I think it is and Oisin and Chris seem to have achieved just that through their love for each other and mountain biking. How awesome is that?

So join us as we chat with Chris and Oisin about racing, world titles, bikes, professional racing teams and future plans.

Thanks for being here!

To Connect with Oisin:

Instagram: oisinocallaghandh

Facebook: oisinocallaghanmtb

Facebook: oisin.ocallaghan.18

To Connect with Chris:

Instagram: chrisocallaghanmtb

Ballyhoura Trail Riders Instagram: ballyhouratrailriders

Ballyhoura Trail Riders Website: www.trailriders.ie

Oisin’s Sponsors:

The YT Mob Instagram: the_yt_mob

YT Industries: www.yt-industries.com/uk