ELANCOURT, France − Not even a broken rear wheel could stop Haley Batten in the women’s mountain biking competition at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, earning the silver medal with a time of 1:28:59 despite having to ride much of the fourth lap with a barely-serviceable bike.
France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot pulled away from the field early and commanded gold in a time of 1:26:02, leaving Batten and Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds to control all the drama by battling for silver over the second half of the race. Rissveds took the bronze (1:29.04), but it was Batten who overcame.
Her broken wheel came with poor timing, as Batten was a long way from reaching the pit at the time. The 30.8km course featured seven laps of 4.4 kilometers each, and Batten’s wheel broke almost exactly at the midway point. She felt lucky her bike held together long enough for her to get the repair.
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‘It was the bottom of the main rock garden on the first descent, so it was a long time (to get assistance). I had quite a few switchbacks and a couple more rock gardens to make it through, so I was lucky it stayed together,’ she said. ‘… I hit a rock pretty dang hard and I smashed my wheel. I broke it completely. I was able to ride the wheel with the tire on it for the last half of that descent to be able to make it to (the pit) and I have one of the best mechanics in the world. He fixed it so fast. So I moved quite a few positions down, but I think that fueled my fire even more. It gave me an extra boost.’
Once she had a new wheel, Batten began a quick recovery to reach medal contention again. She and Rissveds battled over the sixth lap, trading second and third place back and forth, before Batten pulled away in the final lap. Meanwhile, Ferrand-Prevot’s gold medal was well-secured and drew raucous cheers from home-country fans. Ferrand-Prevot’s gold was her first medal in her fourth Olympic Games. Batten and Ressveds rode within a few seconds of one another for much of the sixth lap.
‘We’ve had the most epic and most exciting battles all year,’ Batten said of Ressveds. ‘We both got concussions this year. We’ve had some of the best fights this year. I know Jenny really well and we support each other. I’ve actually looked up to her for a long time. … She did one big attack and I was able to hold on. I knew my strength is to be strong in the end of the race, so I waited for that and chose my moment.’
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Batten’s first medal comes in her second Olympic appearance, having finished ninth in Tokyo in 2021. She won her first national title at age 14 and turned professional by age 17, becoming the youngest member of Team USA mountain biking upon her qualification to compete in the Tokyo Games.
Batten, 25, of Park City, Utah, is coached by former Team USA cyclist Kristin Armstrong, a three-time Olympic gold medalist. On Saturday, Armstrong also coached Team USA’s Chloe Dygert to a bronze medal in the women’s road cycling individual time trial.
Team USA mountain bikers have won just two Olympic medals previously, by Susan DeMattei (1996, bronze), when the sport made its debut in Atlanta, and Georgia Gould (2012, bronze).
The women’s mountain biking event was held at the Paris Games’ Elancourt Hill venue, and is the highest point in the Paris area at an altitude of 231 meters. Team USA’s men’s mountain biking team will compete at Elancourt Hill on Monday with riders Riley Amos and Christopher Blevins.
Both the men’s and women’s competitions include 36 riders.
Reach Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X @chasegoodbread.