HER nickname is "fire girl" which is pretty apt given that Isla Short is currently setting the world of cycling ablaze.

While it is a moniker which stems from her striking red hair (someone in the crowd at a Norwegian race shouted: 'Go fire girl!' and the affectionate term stuck), there is no doubting the fiery determination which emanates from the Scottish mountain biker.

At just 18, Short is already turning heads. Last year saw her claim the British National Junior XC MTB title and finish an impressive seventh in the women's junior cross-country race at the 2014 Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships.

Most recently Short, who is signed to the Novus OMX Pro Team for 2015, spent a fortnight racing in South Africa where she took third in the South African Cup and second at the Pietermaritzburg MTB Festival.

Short exudes confidence and verve. A childhood of family cycle touring holidays through the Scottish Highlands and France first sparked her love for bikes. By nine, Short had discovered mountain biking and in 2010, then 13, got a taste for racing when competing alongside her father Graeme in an endurance event.

"We won that race and I thought: 'Hmmm, I could be quite good at this,'" recalls Short. "I decided to throw myself in at the deep end and raced the full British youth series in my first year."

That was 2011 and Short, who hails from Biggar, finished second overall. She has since gone on to rack up a palmares that includes a raft of podium places at national and world level.

Short claimed sixth in the junior women's race at the 2014 UEC MTB Cross-Country Championships in Germany last summer and was consistently placed within the top 10 of the 2014 UCI Junior World Series, including a bronze medal spot in Italy.

She is the reigning Scottish National Cyclo-Cross champion having won the title four times (one apiece at youth and junior level then twice in successive years as a senior).

Short's story, however, is not without adversity. In February 2013, she was cycling to meet her father at Glentress when she was involved in a collision with a car. The teenager sustained a broken collarbone and fractured the T4 and T8 vertebrae in her back.

The accident left her in hospital for five days and unable to race her bike for eight weeks. "The psychological effects were worse than the physical effects," she says. "It set me back in terms of my technical riding because I was scared of hurting my back again. My confidence took a big knock."

Her first race back was in the 2013 British National MTB Cross-Country Series at Sherwood Pines, Nottingham. Displaying eye-watering tenacity, Short was the third junior woman across the line.

With a wisdom that belies her years, Short believes that the crash and its after-effects only served to cement in her mind that bike racing was what she wanted to do with her life.

"My accident motivated me to use my opportunity to the best of my ability," she says. "It's pretty incredible looking back to see how far I was able to come in the year after it happened."

Short is part of the Scottish Cycling programme and will be gunning to represent Britain at the European and world championships later this year. She has newly moved up the ranks to senior level, although at world and European races will compete in the under-23 category.

"I see this as a year to get experience racing at a higher level," she says. "I have four years in this category so I'm not expecting big results but I would like to be consistent. I will be aiming for top 20 at the World Cup races and would like to win the under-23 British MTB Championships if I can."

She doesn't rule out applying to join the British Cycling programme in Manchester in the future, but says for now her focus is to juggle bike racing alongside studying French at Stirling University where she has just completed her first year.

"My biggest goal at the moment is the 2018 Commonwealth Games," she says. "It is unlikely I will go to the Olympics in Rio next year because I'm still quite young, but the European Championships in Glasgow in three years time are a pretty major goal for me. It would be nice to win that on home territory."

Short will be in action tomorrow at the 2015 British Mountain Bike Marathon Championships in Selkirk. Also on the start list for the women's race is fellow Scot and former British national champion Lee Craigie (Canondale UK) and English rider Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon Racing Team), the reigning British MTB Marathon Champion and European silver medallist.

"I have never done a marathon event before," says Short. "There is no under-23 category so I'm up against the elites and will probably be the youngest rider. I would like a top five placing.

"It will be great to race against some big names like Sally Bigham. My endurance is good so I think it will go well. My dad is racing too which is pretty cool."