The results alone tell a remarkable story: career-best performances, a national champion’s jersey, and a level of racing that firmly cemented her among the best in the world.

But what we’ve loved most isn’t just what Isla achieved but how she achieved it. Race after race, she brought joy, individuality, and a spark that reminded everyone why we ride bikes in the first place (because it is bloomin’ good fun!). She showed that success doesn’t have to fit a mould, and that carving your own path can produce something truly extraordinary.

We couldn’t be prouder to have been part of Isla’s journey this year, and we can’t wait to roll into 2026 together. She’s an inspiration to anyone who wants to do things their own way, and proof that embracing who you are is its own kind of victory.

Read on to hear Isla’s story of embracing the chaos of 2025.

Embracing the Chaos

by Isla Short

We got off the train in Zermatt, the Matterhorn looming ominously above us. I say ominously because I absolutely love to hate short track (XCC), and I had four hours until the XCC World Championships. Ominous because I’d also forgotten my bike, which was sitting in the hotel garage two hours away.

That day is both memorable and not memorable. Memorable because with the help of a few kind souls I managed to retrieve my bike and crossed the line 15th in the world at a discipline I couldn’t fathom being able to be competitive at a year earlier. But it’s also not really memorable because this incident is not unique or a one off, it’s my way of life.

At the moment I’m constantly being asked what changed going into the 2025 race season. I think I’ve baffled more people than I’ve impressed, which is okay, because the transformation probably seems very sudden looking in from the outside. My whole career I’d been an inconsistent, destructively emotional participant who once in a blue moon could show huge potential but was largely fumbling around in the dark – I was a square peg trying to squeeze into a round hole. Then in 2025, I transformed into, quite simply, a great bike racer.

In January I was diagnosed with combined type ADHD, and that’s what changed. That doesn’t explain the how in the transformation though. It would be a huge oversimplification to reduce the process down to a singular emotion, but it’s one that really is at the heart of my becoming a great bike racer and more importantly, a happier person. That emotion is shame.

Shame resided at the epicentre of my interactions with the world as I tried and tried and tried to adapt to exist in an institution that didn’t make sense to me. Being diagnosed legitimated this feeling, and allowed me to start replacing shame with self compassion. I realised that there was a place for me in bike racing but it meant stepping away from the norm and learning to be very assertive and strong in the process. The things that used to make me ashamed are still there, but they don’t invoke that response anymore because it’s me that’s changed.

When I look back at the XCC World Champs this year, my primary emotion is pride. How flipping impressive am I! I forgot my bike and still finished 15th. I’ve replaced feelings of humiliation and inadequacy with dignity and great stories. Success is very personal, whether that’s in professional sport or another aspect of life. The only thing that matters is what it means to you, and the harder it is to explain to others, the more that becomes apparent.

I’ve added ‘bike’ to my race day packing list now but I’ll definitely forget it again because I don’t look at my lists.

Follow Isla here! 

Photos by Pete Scullion / Race photos by Ross Bell