After years lost in the wilderness, American mountain biking on the rise entering the Paris Olympics

ELANCOURT, France (AP) — Lea Davison always wondered why a tiny nation such as Switzerland could be so successful in mountain biking while the United States, where the sport traces its origins to meandering treks high in the Colorado mountains, never seemed to break through on the international stage.

Since it was added to the Olympics in 1996, the Americans have just two medals — both women's bronze — while the Swiss have earned 10 total, including an historic sweep of the women's podium at the Tokyo Games.

“Then I went to the Swiss Cup, and I think it was in 2019 or 2021, and in the infield of a track they had this obstacle course,” said Davison, who competed for the U.S. in mountain biking at the 2012 London Games and the 2016 Rio Games.

“It was a legit obstacle course. Not a little pump track. There were things that would give me pause to go off,” Davison continued, “and I saw like, 5-year-olds doing this before they have fears. A ton of them. And this is just a part of what happens all over the country. They have these clubs and feeder systems and they get kids on bikes, doing high-level skills at a very young age, and I was like, ‘OK, now I see. Now I get why we have fallen so far behind.'"

The encouraging news for the Americans: They might finally be catching up.

Several factors aimed at helping the U.S. become a force on the global mountain biking stage have brought the country to this point, where the team of Riley Amos and Christopher Blevins on the men's side and Haley Batten and Savilia Blunk on the women's side have a legitimate chance to stand on the podium at the Paris Games on Sunday and Monday.

Amos has dominated under-23 races at World Cups all season, though he will be jumping up a level to face the best riders at the Olympics, while Blevins has three medals at World Cup races in 2024. Batten has a pair of golds from the World Cup circuit and was the 2022 world bronze medalist, and Blunk has been on four World Cup podiums this year.

“I think there's been a lot of momentum in the last eight years,” she said. “It used to be one or two of us. Now there is a group of us who are super strong, and who have reached the elite category, so we can have success against super strong fields.”

One of the biggest reasons for the momentum is the growth of mountain biking at the grassroots level.

Whereas riders in Europe are funneled into highly organized programs at young ages — think little league baseball teams in the U.S. — the Americans have lacked such structure. Those with a passion for mountain biking or showed some talent had few places to go, and they often had no idea where those places might be.

Only in the last 20 years have organizations like Durango Devo filled the void. The non-profit based in the mountain biking hotbed of Durango, Colorado, is designed to foster a love of the sport from the time children are learning to ride balance bikes through the point when they are competing at the international level.

Amos is a product of the program. So is Howard Grotts, who raced for the U.S. at the Rio Games.

“We're kind of like AAU basketball, LeBron James and he's with his bros his whole upbringing, and they're having fun but they are doing high-level stuff, and the vibe is good. That's us,” explained Durango Devo's founder, Chad Cheeney. “We're doing crazy training but we're not, like, a factory. We use power numbers and all of that, but we also — ‘Let’s ride up this downhill course backwards,' or, ‘Let’s go do some epic four-hour ride and hit all these trails.'"

As riders get older, they can begin competing in races organized by NICA, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. It was founded in 1998 to provide school-age competition, and has grown to 32 leagues in 30 states all over the country.

Then there is the support of USA Cycling, the sport's national governing, which for years struggled with turnover at its highest levels and a pronounced identity crisis: Was its purpose to get kids on bikes and support amateur cycling? Or was it supposed to support elite athletes as they pursued world and Olympic glory?

Under Brendan Quirk, who took over as its CEO three years ago, the focus has shifted toward competition.

That doesn't just mean Olympians, though. USA Cycling has poured resources into talent identification, development and infrastructure. In the case of some young athletes, that means sending them abroad so they can race against riders for nations such as Switzerland that have been dominating the international scene.

“I honestly think it's been the exposure we've been getting over the years, and the support to go race in Europe, and not getting thrown into it,” Amos said of the success now enjoyed by the latest group of American riders. “More are getting into the sport earlier. Programs like NICA are creating competition in a really fun way. The junior side has grown a lot, and there are a lot more participating and they're really pushing each other.”

It hasn't been an overnight revelation but a long, arduous trek — kind of like those early forays into the high mountains decades ago that helped to launch the sport — that has brought the American mountain bikers back to the forefront.

“I think we've slowly been working on our development pathway for a good couple of years now,” Amos said, “and it's starting to trickle down and shine through. Now we need to continue to capitalize on it.”

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