# Kate Courtney (cyclist)

Kate Courtney (born October 29, 1995) is an American cross-country mountain bike cyclist.

## Early life

Born 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. Courtney was introduced to cycling at a young age by her father and they would ride a mountain-bike tandem up Mount Tamalpais together. Her interest in cycling was piqued when, as a freshman, she joined her school mountain bike team at Branson High School. 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. In the same year, she also signed her first professional contract with Specialized Bicycles.

## Professional cycling career

After 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. 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. It was the first such win for an American since 2001.
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.
In 2019, Courtney left Specialized for the Scott-SRAM team headed by Swiss mountain bike legend, Thomas Frischknecht . She ended the season as the UCI World Cup series winner.

## Personal life

Courtney is a huge fan of sharks and Shark Week. Her other hobbies include skiing, surfing, yoga, and photography. In 2020, she starred in a concussion education video as part of the CrashCourse virtual reality series for TeachAids. 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.

## Major results
### 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
       1st Savognin
       2nd Leukerbad
    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