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Jennifer Valente and Chloé Dygert anchor gold medal hopes for USA Cycling in track racing at the Paris Olympic Games.
Valente, a gold medalist in Tokyo 2020 in omnium, and Dygert are part of a six-rider track cycling squad heading to Paris. The pair will be joined by Kristen Faulkner, Olivia Cummins, and Lily Williams in the quest for a gold medal in the women’s team pursuit after hitting the podium in the past three Olympic Games, officials confirmed Thursday.
“We certainly have an incredible team this year heading to Paris. The team has shown a lot of progress since the 2023 world championships,” said women’s endurance coach Gary Sutton. “After recently returning from an exceptionally
successful training camp in Zolder, the ladies have shown remarkable performance improvements and are poised to be highly competitive in Paris.”
Valente will compete in team pursuit, defend her gold medal in omnium, and race Madison with partner Williams.
Dygert will race in her third straight Olympic Games in team pursuit as well as compete on the road, where she secured her spot after winning the 2023 UCI time trial world championship.
Faulkner and Cummins are new additions to the powerful women’s team pursuit squad alongside Williams, Dygert, and Valente that’s medaled in three consecutive Olympic Games in the event.
“I’m thrilled to be selected for my second Olympics in Paris. Tokyo was an experience of mixed emotions for me, and I channeled all of that into a ton of work, devoting my career to the sport and seeing what I could do,” Williams said. “I will now be racing two events in Paris: The team pursuit, and new to me, the Madison, which I’ve studied and worked on relentlessly since Tokyo, and it feels so good to see that hard work pay off. I’m so excited to see what we can do in Paris.”
USA Cycling qualified six riders in the women’s team pursuit, women’s Madison, women’s omnium, and men’s omnium.
Grant Koontz won the only men’s spot to compete in the omnium. Koontz has had several standout performances on the track in 2024, including Pan American Championship titles in the elimination, Madison, and team pursuit.
The team’s best chances are on the women’s side, with Valente on track to potentially medal in three events.
She’s solid in omnium, a discipline she’s been Olympic and world champion, as well as the Madison with new partner Williams. The pair will be targeting a medal after Valente and 2020 partner Megan Jastrab were ninth in the event’s debut in Tokyo.
The squad will be hoping to finally hit gold in women’s team pursuit. Since its introduction in 2012, USA Cycling has medaled in every Olympic cycle, with silver in 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro, both times beaten by Great Britain. Germany beat Team GB for gold in Tokyo, with the Americans winning bronze.
“I’m excited to officially be named to my third Olympic team. The Olympic Games have always been special to me, and this time around is just as captivating,” Valente said. “The journey to Paris has been its own unique process with new challenges in this shortened quad. I’m thrilled to be lining up alongside longstanding teammates and some fresh faces.”
2024 USA Olympic Track Cycling Team
Valente sets the pace in the 2023 worlds. (Photo: Casey Gibson/USA Cycling)
Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) – Team Pursuit, Madison, Omnium
Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) – Team Pursuit
Lily Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.; Human Powered Health) – Team Pursuit, Madison
Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska; EF Education-Cannondale) – Team Pursuit
Olivia Cummins (Fort Collins, Colo.; DNA Pro Cycling) – Team Pursuit
Grant Koontz (Nederland, Colo.; Star Track Cycling) – Omnium
Source link : https://velo.outsideonline.com/track/xxxx-valente-dygert-anchor-usa-cyclings-track-team-ambitions/
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Publish date : 2024-06-13 03:00:00
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