ELANCOURT, France − Team USA women’s mountain bike rider Haley Batten earned a silver medal Sunday at the Paris Games, finishing with a time of 1:28.59. France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot pulled away from the field early and commanded gold in a time of 1:26:02, while Jenny Rissveds of Sweden took the bronze (1:29.04).
Batten incurred a flat on the fourth of seven laps while riding in fifth place, but still managed to improve her position from that point to take a place on the podium. Batten 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 was well-secured and drew raucous cheers from home-country fans.
Batten’s first medal comes in her second Olympic appearance, having finished ninth in Tokyo in 2021.
Batten, 25, of Park City, Utah, 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 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, on a seven-lap, 30.8km course. It 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.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Team USA’s Haley Batten takes Olympic silver in mountain biking