Park City’s Haley Batten wins 2 Bronze Medals at MTB World Championships

World MTB Cycling championships 2022 Photo: USA Cycling / Jack Tennyson.

LES GETS, France —Park City native Haley Batten won two bronze medals at the Mountain Bike World Championships over the weekend. Batten placed in the Mixed Elite Relay with her Team USA teammates on August 24, and in the Elite Women’s XCO on August 28.

Before the team relay race, Batten talked about the challenges of the course at Les Gets, France, while also highlighting the advantage the team relay race can give riders for other races in the coming days

“It’s good to be back in Les Gets. There are two pretty major climbs when you’re trying to go all out for a lap, and it’s actually quite hard. You think you can just go from the gun start to finish, but there are long climbs, and you have to pace yourself pretty well. Then at the top, it’s pretty technical as well,” Batten said in a statement. “It’s a really great race track. It has everything for a mountain bike athlete. You have to be a talented climber as well as a technical rider.”

Batten clocked the fastest lap for all of the women during the Team Relay, and Team USA went on to make its fourth podium appearance since 2007.

The Elite Women’s XCO brought continued success for Batten as she fought to stay in the lead group. Batten was in the fight for silver for several laps but was eventually passed by Alessandra Keller of Switzerland. Batten finished the race 2 minutes and 13 seconds out of first place.

“I definitely showed up at my absolute best today and I wanted to win really badly but, you know what, Pauline and Jolanda are some of the best ever, so I think to finish behind them is an honor,” Batten said. “I think, more than anything, I’m just proud to be a part of women’s mountain biking right now.”