Haley Batten survives puncture to win mountain bike silver for USA

Haley Batten overtook Rio gold medalist Jenny Rissveds on the final lap to give the U.S. its best-ever Olympic mountain biking performance. Rissveds of Sweden earned an emotional bronze after taking two years off the sport to focus on her mental health.

“I’ve been visualizing for a long time that I would finish with the medal around my neck,” Batten said, “so I knew I would feel something special, but I can’t explain how amazing that is.”

French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won gold at her home games, a title that had eluded her for a long time in her successful career.

“I was like a robot,” Ferrand-Prévot said. “I couldn’t hear anyone on the track. Even my parents, I couldn’t really hear them. I was just on a mission.”

Loana Lecomte, another French favorite, was in third place halfway through the race when she hit a section known as “the rock garden.” She went over the handlebars and landed among the boulders in a brutal crash that ended her Olympic dreams. She was checked by medics but later attended Ferrand-Prévot’s press conference with a bandage on her chin.

There was also heartache for Puck Pieterse from the Netherlands, who was firmly in second place until a flat tire forced her to change wheels. The 30 seconds she lost cost her a shot at the Olympic podium. She came fourth.

That gave Batten a shot at the silver medal, after Americans won bronze medals in the race in 1996 and 2012.

“I’m one of the best athletes in the world and I know I’m the best I’ve ever been,” Batten said. “For me, preparation is in the details. It’s a steady build-up every year, step by step.”

The race took place on a purpose-built course designed by South African expert Nick Floros, who also created the mountain bike venues for the Rio and Tokyo Games. It was carved out of a woodland at Elancourt Hill, which was a sandstone quarry in the 19th century and then a landfill until 1975, before a regeneration programme turned it into a popular park.

On Sunday the stadium was packed with French fans waving flags and banging on the barricades every time Ferrand-Prévot passed by.

She is trying to follow in the footsteps of Julie Bresset, who won gold in the mountain bike for France at the 2012 London Olympics. But after finishing 25th in that race, Ferrand-Prevot crashed hard in Rio and was unable to finish the race. She could only manage a disappointing 10th place in the rain at the postponed Games in Tokyo.

“I put my heart and soul into today’s race,” said Batten, who was fortunate enough to have a flat tire with her mechanic, allowing her to get it fixed quickly and stay in the race. “I had something special in me today. My legs never hurt for some reason. I, I don’t know. I just wanted it so, so bad.”