Park City’s Haley Batten wins Olympic silver medal in best finish by American mountain biker

Jul 28, 2024, 3:00 PM | Updated: 3:09 pm

Haley Batten, of United States, celebrates her second place in the women's mountain bike cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Elancourt, France. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

(AP Photo/George Walker IV)

BY DAVE SKRETTA, ASSOCIATED PRESS

ELANCOURT, France (AP) — Park City’s Haley Batten made history Sunday morning. She won the silver medal for Team USA in the women’s mountain bike cross-country race and finished with the fastest-ever American time.

What a finish from Haley Batten to secure Team USA’s best-EVER Olympic mountain biking result! 🥈#ParisOlympics 📺: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/7ZGbSjt4TN

— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 28, 2024

Amidst this big win, Olympic mountain bike judges fined her for breaking a rule on the final lap of her race.

Batten was jockeying for second place with Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds, well behind eventual champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, when she went through a lane dedicated for taking on food and drink or stopping for mechanical problems. But after the judges reviewed the footage, they decided Batten had done neither and broke one of the rules of the race.

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Officials fined her 500 Swiss francs (about $565) for “failure to respect the instructions of the race organization or commissaires.” However, the judges decided that the infraction was not serious enough to warrant a disqualification.

From ninth place to a silver medal

It hardly put a damper on a banner day for Batten. She finished ninth three years ago at the Tokyo Games.

“I knew before Tokyo that this was the race I was focusing on,” she said. “I’ve known for a long time that I could be good here and Tokyo was… I wanted to be on the podium there, but I wasn’t quite ready to be honest. I prepared much better to be the best I’ve ever been. For me, preparation has been in the details, studying and building every single year.”

The 25-year-old has been at the forefront of a new wave of American mountain bike talent. That includes her 25-year-old teammate Savilia Blunk. She finished 12th on Sunday. It also includes 26-year-old Christopher Blevins and 22-year-old Riley Amos. They both will compete in the men’s race on Monday.

“Being able to perform on one day is really challenging, and everybody at the Olympics is the best in the world,” said Batten, who is coached in part by Kristin Armstrong, the three-time Olympic time trial champion.

“Everybody’s strong, everybody’s fit. Everybody’s well-prepared and can ride at their best. So for me to mentally be able to clear my mind and be ready and race at my best, regardless of challenges before the race and during the race, it’s amazing.”