Christopher Blevins, a mountain biker from Durango, has made the U.S. Olympic team for Tokyo.
C. Blevins Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
A 23-year-old has been selected to represent USA Cycling in the Olympics, carrying on the mountain biking tradition of Durango.
Five years ago, Christopher Blevins stuck a message to the wall of his Durango, Colorado, bedroom. It boldly said, “Tokyo, 2020.”
When his lifelong dream of becoming an Olympic athlete finally came true, he hung the same message on his wall at California Polytechnic State University for the next four years.
USA Cycling has selected the 23-year-old for the team’s lone representative in the men’s cross-country mountain bike race on July 26 at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
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His mother Priscilla described the event as “momentous.“
It’s the summit of any athlete’s career, and he’s wanted to get there for as long as he can remember.
He has put in a lot of effort on his own behalf, both mentally and physically, and he has recently graduated from college, so it is satisfying to see his efforts pay off. There aren’t very many instances where something like this occurs.
Field put his son Christopher on a BMX bike when he was five years old.
Christopher could not have used the bike’s clip-in system independently at that age. Blevins competed in BMX national races all through elementary and middle school. Before the age of 12, when he began racing mountain and road cycles, he had already won seven national titles in his age group.
Because of Durango’s reputation as a mountain biking hotspot, Blevins knew there was more to life than just cruising singletrack with pals.
“I went over to Europe on my road bike when I was 15 years old, and after observing the cycling culture in Belgium, I began to realise the places that biking may take me — both geographically and professionally,” he explained.
As a youth coach, he witnessed future Olympians, world champions, and national champions train with his Durango DEVO team. In his mind, Blevins had already mapped out the road to glory.
According to Chad Cheeney, one of the founders of DEVO, “my duty as his younger coach was to show him that it’s fun to ride bikes and all the exciting methods to train.”
When I think back on my impact on him, it wasn’t so much that I taught him to ride or that I showed him new tricks; it was that I made learning to ride pleasurable.
While the Rest of DEVO is more Concerned with having a Good Time,
Blevins is surprisingly mature for his age. His racing IQ was through the roof because of the way he expertly navigated bends and jumped and hopped with seeming ease.
Blevins exploded onto the scene at an early age and is now a symbol of American cycling. His national accomplishments and passion for ’90s rap and music made him a rising figure in the cycling community.
Blevins blazed a trail around the globe, established his imprint on the international stage, and appeared to be on track for the Olympics. The pandemic struck, delaying his plans by a year, and he never got the chance to pursue his goals.
Because cycling is “one of the best socially separated sports out there,” Blevins felt “very lucky with the privilege I had as a biker during COVID.” “… The training itself became the end in and of itself. It was great having that all through 2020 and again this year with the return of racing.
Blevins has Ridden on the Tokyo Course before, so he is Familiar with it.
When the Olympics roll around in 2019, he’ll be able to give it a try. He had no idea that in just two years’ time, he would be riding the very same course as an Olympic competitor.
A lot of the preparation for Tokyo will focus on adapting to the heat and humidity, he said. “There are some tactics, like cooling down in a sauna after a ride, and knowing what fluids to pack in your bike’s jersey.”
Blevins will be spending the next two weeks in France, racing in a World Cup race to hone his skills before heading to Rio for the Olympics.
Blevins ripped off the sticky note he had stuck to his dorm room wall for four years when he moved out of his college dorm room in June. It was a source of great satisfaction for him. The deed was his now.
He explained his feelings about the Olympics as the “honour of representing Team USA, the enormity of the event, and how much labour went into that.” Those words alone are sufficient inspiration.
Participation in the Olympic Games
- Once-upon-a-time Olympic Athlete (2020)
- Olympic Games, 14th (Tokyo, 2020) (mountain bike)
Her Time Competing at the World Championship
- Newest: silver for the year 2020 (U-23 cross country)
- A range of years from 2017 through 2020 will be covered.
- Two medals (2 silver)
- Silver – 2018 (U-23 cross country), 2020 (U-23 cross country) (U-23 cross country)
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A Few Discreet Facts about Her:
Throughout his elementary and middle school years he flew all over the nation with his dad for BMX nationals…
He began BMX and other types of mountain and road racing at the age of 12…
With an eye on Tokyo 2020, he opted to devote 2019 to mountain riding.
Three hours before the start of the race, he eats pancakes and coffee and then goes back to the hotel or the team trailer to meditate.
He followed in the footsteps of his older sister, Kaylee, who rode mountain bikes for the U.S. national team. He composes poems and music…
He spends his free time facilitating a writing workshop for detained youth… He had a BMX accident when he was ten and shattered his skull, rendering his left ear deaf forever. He watches every Lakers game he possibly can.
