Kate Courtney (born October 29, 1995) is an American cross-country mountain bike cyclist.
 Kate Courtney poses for portrait with Red Bull while training in Sedona, Arizona on February 27, 2019. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | October 29, 1995 San Francisco, United States | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 52 kg (115 lb) | |||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Scott Sram MTB Racing | |||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Cross-Country Mountain bike racing | |||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Early life
editBorn to Maggie and Tom Courtney in October 1995, Kate Courtney grew up in Marin County, California at the base of Mount Tamalpais, which is considered to be the birthplace of mountain biking.[1] Courtney was introduced to cycling at a young age by her father and they would ride a mountain-bike tandem up Mount Tamalpais together.[2] Her interest in cycling was piqued when, as a freshman, she joined her school mountain bike team at Branson High School.[3] While at high school, Courtney competed for the USA National Team and Whole Athlete Development Team in events around the world. In 2012, Courtney became the first American woman to win a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the Junior category.
In 2013, Courtney graduated high school and left for Stanford University to study human biology.[4] In the same year, she also signed her first professional contract with Specialized Bicycles.
Professional cycling career
editAfter graduating from Stanford University in 2017, Courtney began racing full-time and in her first full season in 2017 won four U23 World Cups and the U23 World Cup overall title, and took a silver medal at the U23 world championship.[5] She is also a two-time US cross-country (XC) national champion, having won the title in 2017 and 2018. Courtney participated at the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, winning the gold medal in the women's elite cross country race.[6] It was the first such win for an American since 2001.[7]
In 2018, Courtney took part in the Cape Epic Stage race with her Specialized teammate Annika Langvad where the teammates won seven individual stages and took the Overall team victory.[3]
In 2019, Courtney left Specialized for the Scott-SRAM team headed by Swiss mountain bike legend, Thomas Frischknecht .[8][9] She ended the season as the UCI World Cup series winner.[10]
Personal life
editCourtney is a huge fan of sharks and Shark Week.[11] Her other hobbies include skiing, surfing, yoga, and photography.[4] In 2020, she starred in a concussion education video as part of the CrashCourse virtual reality series for TeachAids.[12] She married Will Patterson in 2022.
In 2024, Courtney appeared alongside Tom Cruise in a video promoting the 2028 Summer Olympics which was shown at the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[13]
Major results
edit- 2016
- 2nd Overall UCI Under-23 XCO World Cup
- 1st Cairns
- 2nd Lenzerheide
- 2017
- 1st
Cross-country, National Championships - 1st
Overall UCI Under-23 XCO World Cup
- 1st Nové Město
- 1st Lenzerheide
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 1st Val di Sole
- 2nd Albstadt
- 2nd Vallnord
- 2018
- 1st
Cross-country, UCI World Championships - 1st Cross-country, National Championships
- 1st
Overall Cape Epic (with Annika Langvad) - 2019
- 1st Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Albstadt
- 1st Nové Město
- 1st Les Gets
- 2021
- Swiss Bike Cup
- Internazionali d’Italia Series
- 1st Legend Cup
- 2nd
Team relay, UCI World Championships - 2022
- Swiss Bike Cup
- 1st Basel
- 2023
- Pan American Championships
- 1st
Short track - 1st Cross-country
- 1st
References
edit- ^ Heil, Greg (August 30, 2012). "Visiting the Birthplace of Mountain Biking: Marin County, California". Singletracks Mountain Bike News. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ^ Scott-Sram MTB Racing Team (May 16, 2019), Rising – Ep 1: Roots w/ Kate Courtney, retrieved June 11, 2019
- ^ a b "About". Kate Courtney. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ a b "Kate Courtney". Team USA. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ "Kate Courtney". CyclingTips. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Cross-country results
- ^ "Mountain Biker Kate Courtney - Marin Magazine - December 2018 - Marin County, California". www.marinmagazine.com. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ "MTB World Champion Kate Courtney to leave Specialized". www.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ Farewell to Kate Courtney, December 30, 2018, retrieved June 11, 2019
- ^ "Kate Courtney secures MTB World Cup title with podium finish". September 8, 2019.
- ^ Powlison, Spencer (April 30, 2019). "Q&A: Kate Courtney on learning from Thomas Frischknecht". VeloNews.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
- ^ "Kate Courtney presents CrashCourse concussion brain fly-through". cyclingnews.com. July 14, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ "Kate Courtney receives the Olympic flag from Tom Cruise in the transition towards Los Angeles 2028". BrujulaBike. Retrieved August 16, 2024.