India, Sept. 15 -- South African Alan Hatherly has been carving his own space in mountain biking. At the Paris Olympics, he became the first non-European cyclist to win a medal in the men's Olympic mountain bike event.

He won bronze in the cross-country Olympic (XCO) discipline which has been part of cycling's Olympic programme since Atlanta 1996. Since then, he has found another gear in his career. On Sunday, he defended his world title at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with a dominant win.

Negotiating a tough terrain, Hatherly took advantage of a lapse from early leader Victor Koretzky of France and raced ahead. Italy's Simone Avondetto claimed silver while Koretzky took bronze.

"It's an incredibly tough course, one of the...