TEAM USA Olympians are Official

Filed under General on June 10, 2021 | Comment(s)

USA Cycling announced today the Road, Mountain Bike, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, and Track Cycling teams that will compete for the U.S. Olympic Cycling Team. The 2020 Olympic Games will run July 23-August 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.

The USA Cycling Selection Committee and coaching staff named seven Road, four Mountain Bike, five BMX Racing, four BMX Freestyle, and eight Track spots.

“Announcing this team is a testament to everyone’s immense dedication and hard work over many years, especially during one of the most challenging periods of our life time,” said Jim Miller, USA Cycling’s Chief of Sport Performance. “We have used the extra year with the goal to come to the Games even stronger and more prepared, and I believe we have done just that. We are bringing a medal capable team in all disciplines and it will show this summer in Tokyo.”

USA Cycling met the maximum athlete quota set by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in six different events: Women’s Road, Women’s Mountain Bike, Women’s BMX Racing, Men’s and Women’s BMX Freestyle, and Women’s Endurance Track. This is an accomplishment in itself that was only made possible by the hard work and commitment of the individuals on and off this list.

“A year ago when we named the long team, I watched these athletes cycle through the disappointment of having to wait then very quickly shifting to the commitment that we will go to Tokyo stronger a year later,” said USA Cycling’s CEO Rob DeMartini. “I’ve watched them train from a distance, I’ve seen how hard they’ve worked, I’ve seen how much they have dealt with disruptions in schedules, travel, COVID, and everything. And I can say honestly that we are delivering a team this year that is stronger than the one that would have gone a year ago and because of that I am incredibly proud of them.”

The Road, Mountain Bike, and Track teams were chosen from the Olympic Long Teams that were nominated in June 2020. The women’s mountain bike team includes two automatic nominations. Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM Factory Racing) qualified by placing fifth at the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, CAN, and Haley Batten’s (Park City, Utah; Trinity Racing) incredible second-place result at the 2021 UCI World Cup in Nove Mesto, CZE earned her a nomination. On the road, Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) cemented her spot on the women’s road team with a decisive win in the Elite Women’s Time Trial at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, GBR. 

The BMX teams qualified based on a points system. Athletes Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev.; Chase Bicycles/ Monster Energy), Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz.; Daylight Cycle Co.), Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, Ill.; Factory Answer SSquared), and Alise Willoughby (Saint Cloud, Minn.; Team Toyota/ GW Bicycles) mathematically earned their spots early in the year.

The same goes for the Women’s BMX Freestyle team, which includes Hannah Roberts (Buchanan, Mich.) and Perris Benegas (Reno, Nev.). The men’s points rankings came down to their final qualification event, which concluded on Monday at the 2021 UCI Urban World Championships, where Team USA broke the tie with Australia and came out as the Top ranked Nation.

Discretionary nominations were made based on the selection criteria created for each discipline.

USA Cycling Olympic Team:

BMX Racing:
Men:
Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev.; Chase Bicycles/ Monster)
Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz.; Daylight Cycle)

Women:
Payton Ridenour (Pottstown; Penn.; Mongoose Bicycles)
Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, Ill.; Factory Answer SSquared)
Alise Willoughby (Saint Cloud, Minn.; Team Toyota/ GW Bicycles)

BMX Freestyle:

Men:
Nick Bruce (Youngstown, Ohio)
Justin Dowell (Virginia Beach, V.A.)

Women:
Perris Benegas (Reno, Nev.)
Hannah Roberts (Buchanan, Mich.) 

Road Cycling:

Men:
Lawson Craddock (Houston; EF Education - Nippo) – Road Race & Time Trial
Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates) – Road Race & Time Trial

Women:
Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) – Road Race & Time Trial
Amber Neben (Irvine, Calif.; Cogeas Mettler Look Pro Cycling) – Time Trial
Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif.; Team DSM) – Road Race
Leah Thomas (Santa Clara, Calif.; Moviestar Team Women) – Road Race
Ruth Winder (Lafayette, Calif.; Trek-Segafredo) – Road Race

Mountain Bike:
Men:
Christopher Blevins (Durango, Colo.; Trinity Racing)

Women:
Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Trinity Racing)
Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; SCOTT-SRAM)
Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz.; Stanz-Pivot)

Track (Velodrome):

Men:
Adrian Hegyvary (Seattle) – Madison
Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling) – Madison & Omnium

Women:
Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) – Team Pursuit
Maddie Godby (Louisville, Colo.) – Keirin & Sprint
Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.; Team DSM) – Team Pursuit & Madison
Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Twenty24) – Team Pursuit, Madison, & Omnium
Emma White (Duanesburg, N.Y.; Rally Cycling) – Team Pursuit
Lily Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.; Rally Cycling) – Team Pursuit

All team nominations are subject to U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee approval.

Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events, and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.

For more information, contact Angelina Palermo at apalermo@usacycling.org

ABOUT USA CYCLING (usacycling.org)

USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, and BMX. USA Cycling’s mission is to champion accessibility, participation, and excellence in the sport of cycling to make more Americans healthier, happier, and better on two wheels while achieving sustained international racing success. USA Cycling supports cyclists at all levels, from those just beginning in the sport and participating in fun rides to international caliber racers. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of kids’ and interscholastic programs, amateur bike racing and grassroots development programs, and the provision of critical infrastructure to run organized racing. USA Cycling has a membership of 100,000, annually sanctions over 2,500 events, and is a proud member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).