Category Archives: Mountain Bike

Basketball, Boxing, Cycling, Marathon, Mountain Bike, Olympic Daily Updates, Olympics, Rio 2016, Volleyball, Wrestling

Rio 2016 Daily Update – August 21st

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Grabbing three golds and two bronze medals on Sunday the US wrapped up Rio with 46 gold medals and 121 total medals. The 46 golds matched the total from four years ago in London as the most at a summer games other than the exceptional 1908 and 1984 Olympics and the the 121 total medals are the third most behind 1908 and 1984. The US had never won more than 110 medals in any Olympics other than those two years so this was a major successful medal haul from the US. Individually speaking Sunday saw golds from heavy favorites (men’s basketball and Claressa Shields), a gold from a rising young wrestling star (Kyle Snyder), a newcomer to the marathon that took bronze in just his second ever marathon (Galen Rupp), and a comeback story bronze (both in Rio and in their match on Sunday) on the volleyball court.

Silver medalist Spc. Paul Chelimo at Rio Olympic Games 5,000-meter run medal ceremony, Aug. 20, 2016

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Basketball, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Golf, Gymnastics, Modern Pentathlon, Mountain Bike, Olympic Daily Updates, Olympics, Rio 2016, Taekwondo, Track and Field, Triathlon, Volleyball, Wrestling

Rio 2016 Daily Update – August 20th

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A big medal haul of 11 on Saturday including five more golds, including a surprising track win, brought the US to 114 total, their best Olympics since Los Angeles in 1984 (174) and third all time behind 1904 St. Louis as well (239). Those two Olympics are very unique and will probably never be surpassed so the US total in Rio is noteworthy. The 43 golds the US has in Rio are within striking distance of Beijing’s 46 for second most all-time behind 1984 and 1904. The US should take gold in men’s basketball and women’s boxing on Sunday but the question is if they can find one more gold to take home from Rio in perhaps the marathon or wrestling.

Spc. Paul Chelimo wins silver medal in 5,000 meters at Rio Olympic Games photos by Tim Hipps, IMCOM Public Affairs

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Basketball, BMX, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Golf, Gymnastics, Modern Pentathlon, Mountain Bike, Olympic Daily Updates, Olympics, Rio 2016, Taekwondo, Track and Field, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo, Wrestling

Rio 2016 Daily Update – August 19th

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Five more medals for the US on Friday pushed them to 105 total, passing their London total and now within five of their total from Beijing. The US medal winning was diverse with golds in a track relay, BMX, and water polo including great stories in track and BMX of gold medalists who thought their Olympic dreams might have been over.

Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Day 14

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Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Aaron Gwin Will Have to Wait to Lockup UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Title

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Aaron Gwin was his usual consistent top of the world performer on Saturday at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec but when Great Britain’s Danny Hart crossed the line with a time 0.669 seconds better than him it meant that Gwin was not able to lock up the series title this weekend. Gwin had a 218 point lead but the second place finish here drops that lead to 178, nothing he’ll be worried about losing but still not enough to clinch it.

Luca Shaw had a season best performance finishing fifth, his third top seven finish. Also finishing in season best spots were Charlie Harrison in 23rd, Kiran Mackinnon in 27th, and Jason Schroeder in 30th. Eilot Jackson had his third top 30 finish in 26th.

Fort William World Cup- Friday DH. Aaron Gwin
On Sunday will be the cross-country final there are nine women in the field led by Lea Davison who had an eighth place finish in Albstadt, Chloe Woodruff who was 13th in Cairns, and Erin Huck and Georgia Gould who each have three top 32 finishes. On the men’s side there hasn’t been as much success this year but both Stephen Ettinger and Howard Grotts have a pair of top 32 finishes. Perhaps the most interesting note is that Grotts, Davison, and Woodruff will also be competing in the Olympics in two weeks but are competing here first. Prayers for safety probably desired.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage:
Mont-Sainte-Anne Preview
Friday Update

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage:
Lenzerheide Recap

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Aaron Gwin Qualifies in First, Extends UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Lead

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Aaron Gwin won qualifying by 3.603 seconds over Great Britain’s Danny Hart at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event in Mont-Sanite-Anne, Quebec on Friday. The top finish gave Gwin 50 more points in the overall standings and despite Hart finishing second Gwin’s lead grew to 218 points in the season standings. If Gwin wins the final tomorrow he will move 258 points in front of Gwin and won’t even need to score points in the final event of the season to win the season title. It’s hard to see a scenario at this point where he doesn’t end up on top for the second straight year and fourth time in his career.

14 of the US riders reached the final with Luca Shaw in seventh and Charlie Harrison in 19th the most noteworthy finishers. None of the three US riders who missed the final had participated in a race earlier this year. Also all that talk of there finally being a US woman in the field and Amanda Batty did not start qualifying so there won’t be any US women competing on Saturday. The downhill final is on Saturday with a cross-country event on Sunday.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage:
Mont-Sainte-Anne Preview

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Aaron Gwin Could Lock Up Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Title This Weekend

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Aaron Gwin holds a 208 point lead over Great Britain’s Danny Hart as the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup heads to Mont-Sanite-Anne, Quebec for the second to last event of the year. With 250 points available each event Gwin could win the overall title this weekend with the right results. There is a large crowd of 17 American men in the field this weekend, ten more than other other stop this year and no surprise for the only North American event. Luca Shaw is again in the field with two top seven finishes in the last there events as is Eliot Jackson, who finished 30th in Lenzerheide. Back for the first time since Cairns is Neko Mulally who was 23rd in that event.

For the first time this year there is a US woman competing in the downhill as Amanda Batty is in the starting list for the women’s event. The qualifying rounds for the men and women will be on Friday with the final on Saturday. Sunday will be a cross-country event.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Coverage:
Lenzerheide Recap

Cycling, Mountain Bike

Mitch Ropelato and Kelli Emmett Win Enduro National Titles at Mountain Bike National Championships

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Mitch Ropelato completed a banner week winning his second national title to go along with a silver in the downhill when he won the enduro event on Sunday. Ropelato opened up a 51 second margin over 32 minutes as he easily won the title over Adam Craig. Kyle Warner was within 3 seconds of Craig as he grabbed the bronze. Things were a little closer on the women’s side as Kelli Emmett defeated Porsha Murdock. Still, Emmett was over 17 seconds ahead of Murdock and no one else was within 35 seconds as Lauren Gregg grabbed third.

Previous USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships Coverage:
Preview
Friday Update
Saturday Update

Cycling, Mountain Bike

Aaron Gwin Wins Downhill National Title at Mountain Bike National Championships

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Considering almost no one in the world has been able to beat Aaron Gwin this year in the downhill it’s no surprise that no American could top him on Saturday. Gwin won the national title by almost 10 seconds over Mich Ropelato, the dual slalom gold medalist from Friday. Gwin’s expected toughest competition, Luca Shaw, was not in contention finishing over 40 seconds back in 55th. Shane Leslie finished third, a tenth of a second behind Ropelato.

No American women have taken part in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill events this year so it was nice to see the best Americans compete. There were only ten entries and first place easily went to Jill Kintner of Bellingham, Washington. Kintner won the title by over 16 seconds over Samantha Kingshill while Jacqueline Thomas finished third.

In the short track cross country event on Saturday Erin Huck won her second national title holding off Georgia Gould for the second straight day, this time by 2.7 seconds. Kate Courtney won the bronze on this occasion. On the men’s side Howard Grotts also made it two national titles as his time of 24:48.1 was two seconds quicker than Todd Wells. Russell Finsterwald won bronze for the second straight day just barely finishing behind silver by less than a second.

Sunday will wrap things up with the enduro races.

Previous USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships Coverage:
Preview
Friday Update

Cycling, Mountain Bike

Erin Huck and Howard Grotts Win National Titles at Mountain Bike National Championships

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Erin Huck hasn’t even been the second best American at any of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup events so far this year but Huck stepped up on Friday to win a national title, pulling away from the field and finishing over a minute in front of any of the other riders. Huck finished in 1:40:34 with Georgia Gould grabbing the silver in 1:41:46. Chloe Woodruff won the bronze medal but was almost four minutes behind Huck.

On the men’s side Howard Grotts, the top American in two of the three UCI World Cup races this year, was nearly two minutes clear of the field in his gold medal run. He finished in 1:41:53. Keegan Swenson won a photo finish against Russell Finsterwald to grab silver with both finishing in 1:43:44. Stephen Ettinger, who has been in the top 30 twice in the world cup this year, finished back in fifth.

National titles were also awarded in the dual slalom event with Jill Kintner taking gold over Adrian Sanders and Joanna Petterson on the women’s side while Mitch Ropelato won a close race on the men’s side. Ropelato held off Kyle Strait by 0.56 seconds to claim the title with Joseph Foresta just 0.52 seconds further back.

Saturday will be the finals of the downhill as well as a short track cross country event. Sunday will wrap things up with the enduro races. In the men’s downhill Aaron Gwin is the heavy favorite as the current leader on the world tour while Luca Shaw might be a contender as well.

Previous USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships Coverage:
Preview

Cycling, Mountain Bike

USA Cycling to Host Mountain Bike National Championships in Mammoth Mountain, California

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USA Cycling will host the Mountain Bike National Championships this week in Mammoth Mountain, California. National Titles will be awarded in dual slalom, cross country, downhill, and enduro. Friday will feature the cross country event in the afternoon with the dual slalom events on Friday night. The downhill event also begins Friday with seeding runs and the finals are on Saturday. Saturday will also feature a short track cross country event and Sunday will wrap things up with the enduro races.

Top contenders in the women’s cross country race will be Chloe Woodruff, Erin Huck, and Georgia Gould. On the men’s side the favorites are Howard Grotts and Stephen Ettinger.