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Interview: Kate Courtney

BEAUPRE, QC – AUGUST 31: Kate Courtney of the United States approaches the finish line in fifth place in the Women’s Elite Cross-country Olympic distance race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at Mont-Sainte-Anne on August 31, 2019 in Beaupre, Canada. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

Kate Courtney is a professional mountain bike racer. She is the 2019 Elite XCO World Cup Overall Champion, the current Pan American Champion, and the 2018 Elite XCO World Champion. Kate sat down with Just Women’s Sports to discuss the demands and rewards of being a world-class endurance athlete, as well as how she’s preparing for the 2020 Olympics. 

We’re only a couple months out from the Olympics. Now that you’ve qualified, how are you focused on getting prepared?

I am honored and excited to represent my country for the first time at the Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo. My goal was to qualify automatically and be able to focus my preparation towards this specific race. With my spot secured, it is full focus on being at my best when it counts most! As always that involves many hours on the bike, in the gym and working with my team to identify every possible opportunity to improve or gain an advantage with this specific course in mind.

Do you have specific performance goals for the Olympics?

Perform to the absolute best of my ability. Of course, I have outcome goals as well and bringing home a medal would be an incredible honor. But for now I am focused on the process of getting to that starting line ready to put down the best race performance possible.

For someone who isn’t familiar with cross country mountain biking, how would you describe it? 

It’s similar to middle-distance running, in that it’s short enough to be a full-out effort, yet long enough that it’s more of an endurance sport than a sprint. Our races are typically five or six laps around a 5km loop, which takes between an hour and twenty and an hour and thirty minutes. You’re going over a huge variety of terrain, so it’s equal parts endurance, technical skill, and racing tactics.

What does your training regimen look like throughout the year?

To be an endurance athlete, you have to put in the hours. There’s no way to shortcut the process. Outside of an annual five day break, I don’t take any time off, and most days I’m on my bike for anywhere between three to five and a half hours. A “down day” for me means going to the gym and riding for 45 minutes. To keep your fitness where it needs to be, there can’t be any lapses in your training.

How do you avoid burnout spending that much time on your bike? 

You have to maximize every aspect of your life to compete at the highest level, including your downtime. You have to train hard, but you also need to find ways to stay healthy, happy, and motivated. If I’m doing a long, endurance ride, I’ll listen to music or a podcast, or I’ll end my training with a trip to a bakery. If I know it’s a really scenic route, I’ll try to convince someone to come with me. On less intensive days, I might take an early break for lunch and get my nails done. I still put the work in, but I don’t torture myself. Then during more intensive days, when I’m trying to simulate a race, it’s all business. No music, no bakeries. I’m locked in and focused on rehearsing my race-day performance.

I’m also fortunate to have a really great team, and we’ve been working consistently in a way that I trust. Endurance athletes are most at peace when we know there’s nothing more we can do, and with my team, I’m never left asking if I have to do more. I also just train really, really hard. And I’m obsessed with improving. But for me, being a full-time athlete means learning to balance that intensity with rest.

What was it like being both a professional athlete and a full-time Stanford student? 

I won’t sell it short: it was incredibly challenging. It was ultimately a formative and positive experience, but it was easily the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Not being an official student-athlete made it difficult, as the official university policy doesn’t provide academic accommodations for professional athletes. I had to create my own support structure and find ways to navigate the system on my own. Every quarter I would register for 25 units and then go to the classes on the first day and tell the professors, look, I’m going to be gone for three out of the next ten weeks. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make up for it. I’ll write extra essays, I’ll read extra books. I have a lot of plane time. Can we make this work? And a lot of them said no. But enough said yes that I was still able to graduate in four years, even though I took time off during the last Olympic cycle.

How did not making the Olympics four years ago change your approach?

In 2016, I was arguably too young to go, but I had a long shot, so I decided to go for it. It was just too exciting to pass up, and I was definitely caught up with the idea of having this amazing experience, getting all the Nike gear and meeting all these athletes. By the end of qualifications, it was between me and another woman for a discretionary pick. Neither of us had automatically qualified, so USA Cycling had to pick. I was the younger racer, and they could have picked me as a way of giving me exposure, but they chose her.

I knew I hadn’t quite done what I needed to do, but I was still super disappointed. But with that disappointment came the realization that I really, really wanted to be an Olympian. I had told myself throughout the qualification that, “It’s a long shot, so I’ll just do my best and see what happens.” But then when I found out I wasn’t going, I just thought, “Wow. I worked really hard, and I really wanted to go.” And I knew right then that I didn’t want to just go to the Olympics because I had potential or because it would be a cool experience. I wanted to earn the right to be there. I wanted to go, compete, race my bike, and be a favorite for a medal.

In the last two years, you’ve won both a cross-country world title and the overall World Cup season. How do you account for so much success at such a young age? 

There are so many things that go into successful races, but they rest on a foundation of years and years of consistent work and progress. For me, the consistency in my progress has been critical to making those big wins possible, and it continues to motivate me to make steady improvement in the future.

Top Tennis Stars Crash Out of Wimbledon in the First Round

US tennis star Coco Gauff reacts to her 2025 Wimbledon first-round loss to Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.
World No. 2 Coco Gauff fell to Ukraine's unseeded Dayana Yastremska in the first round of 2025 Wimbledon on Tuesday. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

USWNT Faces Rivals Canada in Final Summer Friendly

USWNT players Alyssa Thompson and Sam Meza eye the ball during a June 2025 training camp.
The USWNT will face Canada in their final summer friendly on Wednesday. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

Indiana Upsets Minnesota, Wins WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Without Clark

The Indiana Fever celebrate and lift the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup trophy.
The Indiana Fever upset the Minnesota Lynx to win the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever Guard Sophie Cunningham Sounds Off on WNBA Expansion

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham speaks to reporters before the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup final.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham expressed concern about the new WNBA expansion cities. (David Dow /NBAE via Getty Images)

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."

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