Haley Batten

Haley Batten, the 25-year-old mountain bike racer from Park City, Utah, USA, is the reigning Olympic silver medalist. The two-time Olympian earned silver in Paris 2024, achieving the best-ever result for a U.S. mountain bike athlete in the Games. She’s been a Julbo athlete since 2023.

A professional mountain biker for nearly a decade, Haley has amassed numerous national championship titles and World Cup podiums throughout an exciting and dynamic career. She’s maintained an upward trajectory ever since she began racing professionally in 2016, earning her first World Cup win as a U23 in 2019. Haley’s lead-up to the Paris Games was nothing but exceptional, with a streak that included five World Cup podiums and her first elite XCO win in Araxá, Brazil.

Now, as an Olympic silver medalist, she stands out as one of the best mountain bike athletes in the world.

HEADING TO PARIS

Haley’s lead up to the 2024 Olympic Games foreshadowed her breakout performance in Paris. She podiumed five times in the World Cup’s first three stops, a streak that included her first elite XCO win in Araxá, Brazil, in April. In May, on hometown soil in Utah, the Park City native won three gold medals in the Pan American Championships—in the XCO, XCC and relay—all but securing her spot on Team USA.

“I am thrilled to be selected to join Team USA for the Olympic Games in Paris!” she told Julbo following the team announcement in June. “I have been focused on my preparation throughout the past few years in pursuit of this big goal. With a strong start to the season for USA Cycling, I am proud to stand alongside Savilia Blunk and other impressive riders to represent our country. I am very grateful for all the support that I have and the amazing brands and people I get to work with.”

A YOUNG TALENT

While Paris was Haley’s second Olympic appearance, she began making a name for herself long before she competed in the Tokyo Games in 2021.

At age 14, in 2012, Haley won her first age-group U.S. National Title. After defending the jersey the following year, the Park City, Utah, native told her hometown paper, The Park Record, of her dream to race at an elite level. “That’s my goal,” she said. “I want to do World Cups and then, when I’m a lot older, I want to go to the Olympics or something.”

Haley’s professional racing career began in 2016, when she joined the Luna Pro Cycling Team alongside Olympic medalists and XC veterans Georgia Gould (U.S.), Catharine Pendrel (Canada) and Katerina Nash (Czechia). The following year, as part of Team Clif Bar, she won the U23 U.S. National Championships and began competing on the World Cup stage.

 “As a kid, you build champions up into this thing,” she recently told Olympics.com, speaking of training and racing alongside Gould, Pendrel and Nash. “And when you're around them, you realize how human they are, and you see the details of what it takes to be a high-performing athlete in person.”

She soon became such an athlete, finding success on the technically formidable course at Nové Město, Czech Republic, where she earned her first World Cup victories—as a U23 in 2019 and an elite racer in 2021. That same year she punched a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics, where she placed ninth, the top result for Team USA at the Games.

HALEY JOINS JULBO

Haley joined the Julbo athlete team in 2023, early in her hunt to secure a spot on Team USA for Paris Games. “Julbo is growing their community in mountain biking, and I’m proud to be part of that process,” she said at the time. “I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish in the upcoming seasons.”

Splitting her time between British Columbia during the off season, training camps in the U.S. and racing in Europe has allowed Haley to hone her craft as an athlete the last few seasons. “In the winter I love to add a lot of variety to my training,” she said. “I mix it up with cross-country skiing, indoor cycling workouts, and technical riding in the muddy conditions. I believe that developing a variety of skillsets is very beneficial for becoming a better athlete.”

She continued: “Each year I have made progress as an elite rider, and I am looking forward to what I can accomplish next alongside all of the amazing people and brands that I have on my team.”

HALEY’S GO-TO STYLES

Haley’s favorite sunglass styles from Julbo are the Density and Edge, the latter of which are her go-to for racing. “I love the shape and fit of the frame for high-speed racing,” she says of the Edge with REACTIV 1-3 Light Amplifier lens. “I find that the ‘light amplifier’ feature of this lens is very effective for the rooty and rocky terrain when racing in the woods and in overcast conditions. This frame and lens combo was so spot-on and lightweight.”

Of the Density, Haley says, “I really love the shape of the frame, custom fit on the temples and variety of lenses. They are pretty stylish, too.”