Haley Batten wins Olympic silver medal in best finish by American mountain biker — then gets fined

Haley Batten of the United States competes during the women's cross-country mountain bike race at the 2024 Paris Olympics on the outskirts of Paris on Sunday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Haley Batten was fined by the Olympic mountain bike judges for breaking a rule on the final lap of her race Sunday, though she will no doubt gladly pay the modest penalty after her silver medal marked the best finish ever by an American rider.

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.

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

It hardly put a damper on a banner day for Batten, who 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 from Park City, Utah, has been at the forefront of a new wave of American mountain bike talent. That includes her 25-year-old teammate Savilia Blunk, who finished 12th on Sunday, and 26-year-old Christopher Blevins and 22-year-old Riley Amos, who will be competing in the men's race on Monday.

The fact that Batten was in the mix at Elancourt Hill, where the Olympic mountain bike race took place just outside of Paris, was not a complete surprise. She proved she's among the world's elite when she won this year's World Cup race in Araxá, Brazil.

But Batten also had to overcome a concussion that forced her to miss last year's world championships in Scotland, and more recently, a minor Achilles injury during the World Cup short-track event at Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps.

Batten also had to overcome adversity in Sunday's race. She punctured a tire but was fortunate to be near the U.S. team mechanics, who quickly changed it and got her back in the race. Batten had slipped back to sixth but was able to rally, then swapped positions with Rissveds on the final lap before pulling away and capturing the silver medal.

The only other medals won by the Americans had been bronze by Susan DeMattei in 1996 and Georgia Gould in 2012.

“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.”

AP