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.

Major results

 * 2016
 * 2nd Overall UCI Under-23 XCO World Cup
 * 1st Cairns
 * 2nd Lenzerheide


 * 2017
 * 1st MaillotUSA.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey white.svg 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 Jersey rainbow.svg Cross-country, UCI World Championships
 * 1st MaillotUSA.PNG Cross-country, National Championships
 * 1st Jersey orange Cape Epic.svg Overall Cape Epic (with Annika Langvad)


 * 2019
 * 1st Jersey white.svg 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 Silver medal uci.svg Team relay, UCI World Championships


 * 2022
 * Swiss Bike Cup
 * 1st Basel


 * 2023
 * Pan American Championships
 * 1st PanAmericanJersey.png Short track
 * 1st PanAmericanJersey.png Cross-country