How Haley Batten overcame a concussion to emerge as one of the top Paris Olympic MTB contenders

Haley Batten, a rising star in international mountain biking, has earned her spot on the USA Olympic team for the Paris Olympic Games, marking a triumphant return after a challenging period. 

Batten's resurgence this year follows a concussion in 2023 that forced her to miss the World Championships, one of the main qualifying events for the Olympic Games. Undeterred by the setback, Batten regained her confidence and fitness and raced better than ever, scoring two Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series victories and three podiums so far this season.

The result suddenly notches the 25-year-old into the list of favourites for the medals in the women's cross country race at the Olympics in Paris on July 28.

In 2021, Batten made the US team for the Tokyo Olympics as a relative unknown and as a first-year elite rider, with a well-timed second place to Loana Lecomte at the Nové Mesto World Cup earning her Olympic debut. A stellar ninth place in Tokyo was the first sign of what would come. However, her momentum from a podium at the World Championships in 2023 came off the rails last June.

While pre-riding the course for the Leogang World Cup XCO race in Austria, Batten crashed and hit her face. What seemed like a minor injury turned into an ordeal that she worried would ruin her chances to make the Olympic team this year.

"I crashed on Saturday during the course pre-ride and didn't think I had a concussion," Batten explained in an interview with Cyclingnews. Despite the wounds to her face and hand injury, she felt well enough to race the next day. She wasn't aware she had suffered a concussion until after she finished in 16th place.

After the race, she said, "I passed out and felt really bad after that, and so my symptoms of a concussion, and probably a mix of some heat stuff as well."

The stress of the race effort brought on severe symptoms that kept her from racing or training for five weeks, meaning she had to miss Worlds and what could have been her best shot at making the team for Paris.

"A concussion makes you feel vulnerable, making you aware of how your brain affects your life," Batten said. "It made me reflect a lot on why I do what I do, if I want to continue this - and if I do, what can I do to make sure that I reduce my risks.

"It was really challenging, with some really hard days," she admitted. "I think it's also beautiful how the body can recover and how you can overcome something like that and return to racing. I had some incredible races after that. I think I've honestly become a smarter and stronger athlete because of that injury."

Mountain biking is a highly technical sport, requiring nerves of steel to tackle steep drops, rock gardens and off-camber loose turns without crashing. A concussion can shatter the confidence that is necessary to be successful in the sport. Rather than push herself, Batten went back to basics to overcome any trepidation.

"After my concussion, my body was so stiff and kind of protecting itself that I almost had to relearn how to approach these technical courses and how to choose my lines and how to build that confidence again," she explained.

"It almost took me down to a beginner level again. I had to look at these features that used to be a breeze for me and I had to break everything down into pieces and rebuild that belief - take it step by step and allow myself to slow down a little bit and take it one step at a time.

"I went to Tucson in the winter for group rides and warmth, and I also continued to return to British Columbia to work on my technical skills," she elaborated.

After a winter of riding the gnarliest trails she could find, Batten said she was not scared anymore.

"I think the technical aspect of our sport is what makes it so unique and challenging, and that's what I love about it. But also it can be scary at times, for sure, and I think that's what makes a race like the Olympics and the course there, where it has a couple of those sections, all that much more rewarding to win as well."

Similar to road cycling or cyclocross, mountain bike racers from North America often have to travel to Europe to find a level of competition and, as their careers progress they face a choice - endure Transatlantic flights back and forth or make a home overseas for the season. Batten first made a base in France last year and this year, she's joined a large contingent of North American riders in Girona, Spain.

With the bulk of the season in Europe, Batten is able to acclimatise to conditions and familiarise herself with the courses without the rigours of changing time zones. "The main part of our season is all in Europe," she explained. "Being based here to train, travel less, and focus on race after race, and the recovery in between has really made a difference. It also allows you to be immersed in the culture and make connections for training."

Batten planned 2024 around first qualifying for the Olympics and then building up toward Paris.

"I broke it into two parts. So part one was the qualification period, which was the two World Cups in Brazil," where she was third in Mairipoã and won in Araxá, "and also the third World Cup in Nové Mesto, the Czech Republic [where she finished second to Pauline Ferrand-Prévot]. Those three races were included in our qualification period. I wanted to nail that so that I could just focus on Olympic day."

Having made the team, Batten turned her focus to working on tactics, equipment and skills over results. She finished eighth in Val di Sole, then dropped out of the Crans-Montana World Series race at the end of June after suffering a minor injury during the short track race. She chose to skip the Les Gets World Series race in early July to focus on preparing for the Olympics and dropped to third in the overall standings.

"Everything I do in these races is really just focused on race execution and my equipment so that everything is dialled once I get to Paris - my tyres, my bike, my suspension, my nutrition, how I'm going to hydrate, how I'm going to cool down, how I'm going to warm up," Batten said she wants to make sure "all these little details are just absolutely nailed."

Having already made her debut at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, Batten doesn't have to worry about the unknowns of living in the Olympic Village and everything that being at the world's largest sporting event entails.

"To have that experience of what a big event it is, you really can't explain it until you're there. You're like, 'Oh, the Olympics, it's a big deal.' But when you're there, you're like, 'Oh, wow. Okay, this takes a lot of mental energy, and it's kind of crazy. It's almost unbelievable; it's surreal. It's hard to believe you're really there.

"The thing that I'm happy I got out of the way is just how much energy and craziness it takes," Batten says. "When you land at the Olympics, all the processing you go through just to get to your venue and on race day, there's all the security you have to go through just to get from the outside of the venue into the venue. We don't have to do that at most Worlds; you just show up and walk into your race."

Batten's Tokyo experience has left her feeling more prepared for the unique challenges of the Olympics. "I'm glad I had that experience. I loved it. I loved racing there, but I'm really excited to focus on the race itself now and feel like I'm more prepared for all the hectic energy around it. I love it when you have to be adaptable like that, but I'm also glad I had that experience."

In Tokyo, Batten was an outside hopeful and her top-10 a surprise. However, after the season she's had, lying third in the World Series and 11th in the 12-month UCI rankings even with her layoff last year, she's going into Paris as a favourite for the medals. Batten will race alongside Savilla Blunk, the US national champion who has also scored several World Series podiums and is ranked fourth in the world, giving the USA a very good chance at a top result.

"It's hard to put into words. I think when you set the Olympic goal when you're a young kid, you have no idea where the sport will take you, and it's definitely been a wild ride," Batten says. "But yeah, I love what I do, and I'm really excited for this Olympics. I'm excited to see what I'm capable of, and our whole team, I think we have a really strong team, so that's super cool."

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