Kate Courtney

Kate Courtney is an Olympian, a World Champion, and professional cyclist for FDJ-Suez, a women’s UCI World Tour cycling team. Raised at the base of Mount Tamalpais – the birthplace of mountain biking – Kate has been on a bike her entire life. Over the years, her career has blossomed into one which straddles the line between fierce competitor and strong role model. Kate’s impressive athletic record enables her to serve as both an advocate and leader for women not only in cycling, but in sport. 

She carved out a name for herself in 2012 as a mountain biker, when she became the first American woman to win a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Kate took gold in the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, the first such win for an American in 17 years. Kate brought that same determination to the Tokyo Olympics as a member of Team USA. In 2023, she won in short-track and cross-country at the Pan American Championships, and in 2025, she set a new course record at the Leadville 100, and again became UCI Mountain Bike World Champion, this time in the marathon discipline. Beginning in 2026, Kate continued to explore her capabilities across cycling disciplines, becoming the 2026 US Road Cycling National Champion, and in July 2026, joined dominant World Tour team FDJ-Suez to pursue her Olympic dreams.

Kate is the proud founder of the She Sends Foundation, a non-profit organization established in 2023 to connect, support, and inspire women and girls through biking.

Kate also uses storytelling to inspire the next generation of cyclists; her words have been featured in The New York Times, Outside, and The Washington Post. 

As a racer and a role model, Kate constantly strives to “focus on the feeling.” A joyful and resilient force in mountain biking, she will continue to blaze new trails for herself and female riders for years to come.