Haley Batten Wins Silver in Paris Olympics Mountain Bike Race

Haley Batten, the 25-year-old from Park City, Utah, won a silver medal in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games. After a dusty and hard-fought race on Elancourt Hill, Haley crossed the finish line just five seconds ahead of Sweden’s Jenny Risveds, earning the best-ever result for a U.S. mountain bike athlete in an Olympics.

[Photos] Michele Mondini

WHILE FRENCH SUPERSTAR Pauline Ferrand-Prévot took an early and decisive lead on lap two, the race for the remaining podium spots played out dynamically for more than an hour, with six athletes, including Haley, constantly vying for position. Haley chased back following a fourth-lap flat tire (and broken wheel), ultimately battling with Rissveds through the last two of seven laps. With a decisive attack on the final climb, Haley separated herself from the Swede, and the American crossed the line solo, with hands held high.

“Right when I caught Loana [Lecomte] and was moving into bronze medal [position], I broke a wheel, and that was really disappointing,” Haley said immediately following the race. “I was worried that I lost my chance at a medal today, but I stayed so calm. My mind was right in the place it needed to be, and I gave everything today.”

In addition to Haley, three other Julbo athletes earned standout results in the women’s XCO race: Samara Maxwell (N.Z.) took eighth, Savilia Blunk (U.S.) earned 12th, and Mona Mitterwallner (Austria) placed 18th.

HEADING TO PARIS

Haley’s lead-up to the 2024 Olympic Games foreshadowed her breakout performance in Paris. She podiumed five times in the World Cup’s first three stops, a streak that included her first elite XCO win in Araxá, Brazil, in April. In May, on hometown soil in Utah, the Park City native won three gold medals in the Pan American Championships—in the XCO, XCC and relay—all but securing her spot on Team USA.

“I am thrilled to be selected to join Team USA for the Olympic Games in Paris!” she told Julbo following the team announcement in June. “I have been focused on my preparation throughout the past few years in pursuit of this big goal. With a strong start to the season for USA Cycling, I am proud to stand alongside Savilia Blunk and other impressive riders to represent our country. I am very grateful for all the support that I have and the amazing brands and people I get to work with.”

A YOUNG TALENT

At age 14, in 2012, Haley won her first age-group U.S. National Title. After defending the jersey the following year, the Park City, Utah, native told her hometown paper, The Park Record, of her dream to race at an elite level. “That’s my goal,” she said. “I want to do World Cups and then, when I’m a lot older, I want to go to the Olympics or something.”

Haley’s professional racing career began in 2016, when she joined the Luna Pro Cycling Team alongside Olympic medalists and XC veterans Georgia Gould (U.S.), Catharine Pendrel (Canada) and Katerina Nash (Czechia). The following year, as part of Team Clif Bar, she won the U23 U.S. National Championships and began competing on the World Cup stage.

“As a kid, you build champions up into this thing,” she recently told Olympics.com, speaking of training and racing alongside Gould, Pendrel and Nash. “And when you're around them, you realize how human they are, and you see the details of what it takes to be a high-performing athlete in person.”

She soon became such an athlete, finding success on the technically formidable course at Nové Město, Czech Republic, where she earned her first World Cup victories—as a U23 in 2019 and an elite racer in 2021. That same year she punched a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics, where she placed ninth, the top result for Team USA at the Games.

HALEY JOINS JULBO

Haley joined the Julbo athlete team in 2023, early in her hunt to secure a spot on Team USA for Paris Games. “Julbo is growing their community in mountain biking, and I’m proud to be part of that process,” she said at the time. “I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish in the upcoming seasons.”

Splitting her time between British Columbia during the off season, training camps in the U.S. and racing in Europe has allowed Haley to hone her craft as an athlete the last few seasons. “In the winter I love to add a lot of variety to my training,” she said. “I mix it up with cross-country skiing, indoor cycling workouts, and technical riding in the muddy conditions. I believe that developing a variety of skillsets is very beneficial for becoming a better athlete.”

“Each year I have made progress as an elite rider, and I am looking forward to what I can accomplish next alongside all of the amazing people and brands that I have on my team.” –Haley Batten

Julbo Edge & Density

Haley's Go-To Styles

“I love the shape and fit of the frame for high-speed racing,” she says of the Edge with REACTIV 1-3 Light Amplifier lens. “I find that the ‘light amplifier’ feature of this lens is very effective for the rooty and rocky terrain when racing in the woods and in overcast conditions. This frame and lens combo was so spot-on and lightweight.”

Of the Density, Haley says, “I really love the shape of the frame, custom fit on the temples and variety of lenses. They are pretty stylish, too.”