Cycling Preview
The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will feature five cycling disciplines: BMX freestyle, BMX racing, mountain biking, road cycling and track cycling. BMX freestyle is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo, where several U.S. athletes are expected to be among the favorites. The U.S. Olympic cycling team ranks fifth in the all-time medal table, having earned 55 podium finishes, including five at Rio 2016.
BMX Freestyle
BMX freestyle is a discipline new to the Olympic program where riders perform two-minute runs executing a sequence of tricks on different obstacles contained within a park designed for BMX riders. Such obstacles include spines, walls and box jumps. In competition, riders are judged on quality of their performance, taking into account difficulty, originality, and style. The U.S. Olympic BMX freestyle team includes Perris Benegas, Nick Bruce, Justin Dowell and Hannah Roberts.
BMX Racing
BMX racing traces its origins to Southern California in the 1960s where kids on modified 20-inch Schwinn Stingray bicycles would race around vacant lots. Nowadays, BMX racing is a sprint sport where the starting gate is three stories high and jumps are up to 40 feet in length. From the start lines, riders go from zero to approximately 35 miles per hour, often producing upwards of 2500 watts coming off of an 8-meter-tall starting hill — and that’s only the first two seconds of the race. The U.S. Olympic team includes defending gold medalist Connor Fields, Olympian Corben Sharrah, Payton Ridenour, Felicia Stancil and defending silver medalist Alise Willoughby.
Mountain Biking
The first mountain bike competitions were held in California in the early 1980s. Although there are several sub-disciplines within mountain biking, cross-country is the one which is part of the Olympic program. Cross-country races are held on courses that range in distance from 4 to 6 kilometers with technical descents, forest roads, rocky paths and obstacles. The U.S. team includes Haley Batten, Christopher Blevins, Kate Courtney and Olympian Chloe Woodruff.
Road Cycling
Road cycling has been part of the Olympic program since its first edition in 1896. Today there are two different types of road events during the Games: the road race and the individual time trial. Both the road race and time trial in Tokyo will feature backdrops of Mount Fuji — the men’s road race will climb the lower slopes of Japan’s highest mountain.
During the road race, riders start together as a group, also known as a peloton or field, with countries using team tactics to best position the nation’s rider who is most suited for the course. During the individual time trial, riders set off individually at regular intervals (one to two minutes apart). The competitor who completes the course in the fastest time is the winner. The U.S. team includes Lawson Craddock, Olympic medalist Chloé Dygert, Brandon McNulty, three-time Olympian Amber Neben, Coryn Rivera, Leah Thomas and Olympic medalist Ruth Winder.
Track Cycling
Track racing dates back to the end of the 19th century, with the first world championships held in 1893. There are six track cycling events contested at the Olympic Games: the keirin, Madison (new to the Olympic program), omnium, team pursuit, individual sprints and team sprint. The U.S. team includes Chloé Dygert pulling double duty, along with Maddie Godby, Adrian Hegyvary, Gavin Hoover, Megan Jastrab, Olympic medalist Jennifer Valente, Emma White and Lily Williams.
Updated on June 18, 2021. For more information, contact the sport press officer here.