BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The road to the Olympics runs through Bentonville for the United States Mountain Biking team, and for the first time in US Olympic cycling history, the team will send 4 members to the 2024 Paris Olympics, two men and two women.
The men are a couple of Durango, Colorado natives Christopher Blevins and Riley Amos, and for the ladies, it'll be Park City, Utah's own Haley Batten and Savilia Blunk out of Inverness, California.
The CEO of US Cycling Brendan Quirk says he has high expectations for this team.
"When you're an athlete at this level, your expectation isn't just to be named to the Olympic teams. Your expectation is to get a medal or to win. I think that's what we are preparing to do. That's their mentality. I think they have a lot of belief that they can get there. They've proven on the World Cup circuit, which is the hardest circuit in the world, that they can win." Said Quirk.
Quirk believes there is no better place to train than here in Bentonville.
“The course in Paris is interesting. It's not super long climbs. It's very what we call punchy climbs. They're short and they're steep. The course is very technical, as well as a lot of rock gardens and a lot of roots. The terrain is very similar to what you experience in Bentonville or out of Fitzgerald Mountain in Springdale or down in Fayetteville. So you probably couldn't find a better place in America to prepare for the course.” Quirk added.
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And as an Arkansan, Quirk has a lot of pride that the team is based in his home state.
"This is home for me. And I think the reason why I feel so proud is that I now go all over the world. Everybody knows about the cycling in Northwest Arkansas. This is a global destination for cycling, and as someone who's from here, it makes me so proud of that." Added the CEO.
And the CEO of Visit Bentonville Kalene Griffith is proud to have the team based in her town.
"We should be very proud of USA Cycling coming to our area. We're honored they chose Bentonville because they could've chosen anywhere," Griffith said.
The Olympics will start on July 26th in Paris, with the cycling competition going on July 28th and 29th.
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