Reece Wilson describes himself as, just possibly, being a sandwich short of a picnic. Why else, after all, would he be willing to career down hill on a mountain bike at breakneck speed, regardless of the risk of injury, in the pursuit of glory?

But it is this mindset that has taken him so far, and so quickly, in downhill mountain biking; a sport the Borders man has only been involved in for a mere six years.

The 22-year-old’s progress has been nothing short of remarkable, a fact highlighted by his selection for his first-ever World Championships, which begin in Lenzerheide in Switzerland today.

Wilson’s inclusion in the GB team comes at the end of an impressive season which, amongst other things, saw him become the first Scot ever to secure a spot on the podium at the Fort William World Cup earlier this summer.

It was quite an achievement for someone who, until six years ago, had never even tried downhill mountain biking.

Wilson began his sporting career as a motocross rider but after being persuaded by friend Ruaridh Cunningham, who was a professional mountain biker himself, to try the sport out, Wilson found he had a real talent for it.

Even he, though, could not have foreseen making it to this point in the sport quite so quickly. And so Wilson makes his maiden World Championship debut this week full of confidence and also extremely relaxed and ready to make the most of an opportunity he never envisaged he would have after contemplated stepping away from the sport last winter.

“I’m really excited,” he said.

“And I don’t feel under any pressure.

“Over the past four or five years, having had injuries and all the rest, you do start to doubt yourself at times. And during this off-season, I was planning on not racing this year at all.

"I couldn’t get a team so I was going to just ride for fun but at the very last minute, a team came through and so I thought I might as well try to make the most of that chance. To have gone from that to be going to the World Champs, it’s pretty crazy.

“I had a big reset this off-season and I told myself that if had some decent results at World Cups this year and was consistent, I’d be happy. I’ve smashed those goals right out the park so I feel like I’ve got no pressure on me this week.

“The World Champs is a one-off race and you really do need to be on it to do well. If I went there and won it, I’d be really shocked but I’m just going to go there and see how I can do.”

Wilson has performed consistently well at the World Cup events this year, although he admits that small mistakes have cost him when it comes to final placings.

But it is his Fort William result that was the highlight of his summer, although it has resulted in him potentially getting a tattoo to remember the result by.

“It was amazing,” said the Commencal 100% Fresh team rider.

“There’s no words that can explain how I felt. I literally cried for two hours afterwards when I found out I’d got on the podium.

“At the time, I didn’t realise I was the only Scot to have ever got on the podium so once I found that out, it was another wave of emotions.And it was huge for my confidence too.

“On the way to Fort William, me and my friends made a daft bet that if I got onto the podium, we all had to get a tattoo. We were all laughing about it but then it actually happened. We shook on it though so we’ll have to do it. It’s not a bad reason to get a tattoo.”

Wilson’s career has not been entirely smooth though. A number of serious injuries, including a catastrophic knee injury at the tail end of 2015, have plagued the Borders rider but that is, he insists, part and parcel of the sport and to make it to the top, Wilson knows he needs to be able to cope with that side of things.

“Injuries are just part of the sport,” he said.

“I think most people at the top of most sports are a sandwich short of a picnic. They have that little connection missing somewhere and I think you need a little bit of that. Smart people normally don’t want to put themselves in danger.

“You can’t have any doubt. 80 percent of this sport is in your head. If you’re going into a race anything less than 100 percent confident, almost cocky, there’s pretty much no point in you being there because there’s 80 other guys who are confident. You can be the fittest one out there but if you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t do anything.

“When you hear the beep at the start gate, you’re willing to put your life on the line for that feeling that I got at Fort William. And once you get that, the last thing you’re thinking of is the injuries you’ve had.”

As Wilson looks towards next season, he has set himself lofty goals.

“Because I’m still so new to it downhill, I feel like I’ve still got so much to learn. It’s crazy how much experience I feel I lack compared to the people I’m up against,” he said.

“I feel like I’m only just getting started.

“I’ve shown that I have that top-10 speed so I want to become a consistent top-10 rider. The races I’ve made mistakes in this year, until that point I’ve been in the top-10 so that’s been frustrating. But I’m just going to work on getting fitter, stronger and continue building on what I’ve done this year.”