Team USA reveals first full Olympic mountain cycling squad in Bentonville
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Haley Batten competes in May. Photo: Piotr Staron/Getty Images
The U.S. is a credible contender for gold in mountain biking when the Summer Olympics convene in Paris next month.
Why it matters: It's the first time the U.S. has had a full roster of mountain biking athletes — two women and two men — since it became an Olympic sport in 1996.
Both categories needed to rank in the top eight globally to qualify for sending two competitors. The U.S. overall is third for women and fifth for men.
- Both teams needed to rank in the top eight globally to qualify to send two competitors. The U.S. women are third overall and the men are fifth.
State of play: Arkansas native Brendan Quirk, president and CEO of USA Cycling, the governing body for cycle racing in the U.S., announced the teams Tuesday in Bentonville.
The big picture: Bentonville, the self-proclaimed Mountain Biking Capital of the World, is home of the U.S. national mountain biking team. In addition to competing in events at Centennial Park in Fayetteville, its athletes occasionally use NWA's 250 miles of off-road trails to train.
- Anneke Beerten, one of the team coaches, also lives here.
Driving the news: Most members of the team are in Europe training and competing. They are:
- Women: Haley Batten, 25, of Park City, Utah, and Savilia Blunk, 25, of Inverness, California.
- Men's: Riley Amos, 22, and Christopher Blevins, 26, both of Durango, Colorado.
Context: The three-mile Olympic course is at Elancourt Hill, about an hour from Paris. The route includes about 330 feet of elevation gain, and the athletes will lap it five to seven times during competition.
What they're saying: "Our coaching staff was reflecting on it — no place in America is better to prepare those athletes for that kind of terrain than Bentonville," Quirk said, noting they get short, punch climbs versus long climbs in other states.
- "The rocks, the roots … just technical demand — that's what our athletes prepare for here."
What's next: Updates on the teams are available at USA Cycling and a watch party is being planned in Bentonville, but the location is TBD.
- The women compete Sunday, July 28, at 7:10am CDT.
- The men race Monday, July 29, at the same time.