Haley Batten: The best finish by an American mountain biker at the Olympics goes to Haley Batten, who won a silver medal. She then gets fined.
ELANCOURT, France The Olympic mountain bike judges gave Haley Batten a small fine because she broke the rule on the last lap of her race on Sunday. She will probably happily pay the small fine because her silver medal was the best finish by an American rider ever.
Batten was competing with Jenny Rissveds of Sweden for second place. They were both far behind the ultimate winner, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, when Batten went through a lane that was only for getting food and drinks or stopping for mechanical issues. In the end, though, the judges found that Batten had done neither, which was against the rules of the race.
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She got a 500 Swiss franc (about $565) fine for “failing to respect the instructions of the race organisation or commissaires,” but it looks like the judges didn’t think it was a big enough problem to disqualify her.
Even though it was bad, Batten had a great day. He came ninth at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
he said, “I knew before Tokyo that this was the race I was focussing on.” “I’ve known for a long time that I could do well here, and Tokyo proved it. I wanted to be on the podium there, but I wasn’t ready yet,” she said. To be the best I’ve ever been, I trained a lot more. For me, getting ready has been all about the little things—studying and building every year.”
He is 25 years old and from Park City, Utah. He is one of the best mountain bikers in the United States right now. That includes her 25-year-old partner Savilia Blunk, who came in 12th place on Sunday, as well as Christopher Blevins, 26, and Riley Amos, 22, who will be running in the men’s race on Monday.
Not a big surprise that Batten was in the running at Elancourt Hill, where the Olympic mountain bike race took place not far from Paris. When she won the World Cup race in Araxá, Brazil this year, she showed that she is one of the best in the world.
Not only did Batten miss last year’s world championships in Scotland because of a concussion, but she also hurt her Achilles tendon during the World Cup short-track event in Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps.
In Sunday’s race, Batten also had to deal with problems. Her tyre went flat, but she was lucky to be close to the U.S. team workers, who fixed it right away and got her back in the race. Batten fell to sixth place but was able to make up ground. On the last lap, he switched places with Rissveds and then pulled away to win silver.
Sue DeMattei won a bronze medal in 1996, and Georgia Gould got one in 2012. That was the only other medal the Americans had won.
Kristin Armstrong, who has won three Olympic time trials, helps train Batten. “Being able to perform on one day is really hard, and everyone at the Olympics is the best in the world,” Armstrong said.
“Everyone here is fit and strong.” Everyone is ready to ride and can do their best. So being able to clear my mind, get ready, and race at my best, even though there were problems before and during the race, is amazing.
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