Cycling

At the Olympic Games, there are five disciplines in the sport of cycling: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking, Track Cycling, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle. Cycling is one of five sports to compete on all 16 days of the Olympic Games, with 22 medals up for grabs.


  1. Road Cycling: Road Cycling includes long-distance races on paved roads, featuring both road races and individual time trials where cyclists race against the clock.
  2. Mountain Biking: Mountain Biking involves off-road races on rugged terrain, emphasizing endurance and bike-handling skills, with cross-country being the primary Olympic event.
  3. Track Cycling: Held on a velodrome, Track Cycling features various events including sprints, pursuits, and team races, all taking place on an indoor oval track.
  4. BMX Racing: BMX Racing is a sprint race over a short, off-road track with jumps, tight turns, and obstacles, where multiple riders compete head-to-head from start to finish.
  5. BMX Freestyle: BMX Freestyle involves performing tricks and stunts in a park-style course, with riders judged on their creativity, difficulty, and execution of the tricks.

 

U.S. riders are some of the top contenders across the various disciplines of cycling, with current World Champions in Road (Time Trial – Chloe Dygert), Track Cycling (Omnium – Jennifer Valente), BMX Freestyle (Hannah Roberts), and BMX Racing (Alise Willoughby).

Athletes to Watch:
  • Alise (Post) Willoughby – BMX Racing. At 33 years old, BMX racer Alise Willoughby has been absolutely dominant in the sport. Nearing the end of her racing career, Willoughby proved that she is still at the top of her game winning the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in May 2024. In addition to her Olympic Silver Medal and three World Titles, Willoughby won a record-shattering 11 USA BMX No. 1 titles – the most ever won in the sport by any athlete, male or female.
    • Olympic Games Appearances: 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024
    • Olympic Games Medals: Silver – 2016
    • World Championship Titles: 2017, 2019, 2024
  • Hannah Roberts – BMX Freestyle. Roberts won her fifth World Championship title (out of six World Championship events), making her the winningest BMX Freestyle rider in history, male or female. She has continued to be dominant, landing on every World Cup podium in 2023 and 2024
    • Olympic Games Appearances: 2020, 2024
    • Olympic Games Medals: Silver – 2016
    • World Championship Titles: 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023

  • Haley Batten – Mountain Bike. Batten balances her professional mountain biking career with studying at Quest University in Squamish, BC. She is passionate about exploring the relationship between neuroscience and education and how the application of science into the learning process can engage students in the most fulfilling way. She is coached by 3x Olympic Time Trial Gold medalist, Kristin Armstrong.

    • Olympic Games Appearances: 2020, 2024

    • World Championship Medals: Bronze –  2022

    • World Cup XCO Podiums:

  • Chloe Dygert – Road & Track. One of the greatest comeback stories of this Olympic cycle – From possibly losing her leg in 2020 from a life altering crash at World Championships to winning gold in 2023. She competed in the Tokyo Olympics still in pain and went on to have the wound re-opened for two more surgeries to remove scar tissue masses, was diagnosed with Epstein Barr, and had heart ablation surgery for SVT tachycardia (an irregularly fast heartbeat). In 2023, Dygert competed in her first World Championship event since the crash, and came back to not only win, but to dominate the Individual Pursuit on the track, then seven days later, won another World Championship title in the Individual Time Trial.

    • Olympic Games Appearances: 2016, 2020, 2024

    • Olympic Games Medals:  Silver, Team Pursuit – 2016; Bronze, Team Pursuit – 2020

    • Road World Championship Titles - Time Trial: 2019, 2023

    • Track World Championship Titles - Team Pursuit: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020. Individual Pursuit: 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023

  • Jennifer Valente – Track. Cemented her spot in history at the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships by becoming the most decorated American track cyclist ever with 17 Elite World Championship medals. Was the first American woman to win Olympic Gold in the Omnium at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. That same year, she went on to win her first individual World Title in the Omnium and backed it up with another win in the event at the 2023 World Championships.

    • Olympic Games Appearances – 2016, 2020, 2024

    • Olympic Games Medals - Silver, Team Pursuit – 2016; Bronze, Team Pursuit – 2020; Gold, Omnium – 2020

    • Track World Championship Titles - Team Pursuit: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, Omnium: 2022, 2023, Scratch Race: 2023


For inquiries: Angelina Palermo - apalermo@usacycling.org

(Photo by USA Cycling / Snowy Mountain Photography)