Susan DeMattei

Last updated
Susan DeMattei
Personal information
Full nameSusan DeMattei
Born (1962-10-15) October 15, 1962 (age 60)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Team information
DisciplineRoad & MTB
RoleRider

Susan DeMattei (born October 15, 1962) is an American former professional cross-country mountain bike racer. [1] She became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in mountain biking when she won the Bronze Medal in the inaugural Olympic Cross-Country Mountain Biking competition at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. [2] [3] [4] DeMattei was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1997 and, into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2012. [1] [5] [6]

Contents

Bicycle racing career

Born in Marin County, DeMattei grew up in San Rafael, California. [1] [6] [7] She first became interested in cycling while attending California State University, Chico, where she was pursuing her nursing degree. [1] She began as a recreational road cyclist before taking up mountain bike racing. [1] DeMattei was a talented climber, and almost immediately after taking up cycling she was setting local road hillclimb records with times out of reach of most of the male competitors. She tried her hand at mountain bike racing, to even greater success, and was quickly signed to a professional contract by the Diamondback racing team.

From 1990 through 1996, DeMattei finished in the top three in the NORBA Championship Series every year but one. [1] DeMattei won the silver medal in the cross-country class at the 1994 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Vail, Colorado. [8]

Later life

DeMattei married former professional mountain bike racer and teammate, Dave Wiens. [1] She currently resides in Gunnison, Colorado where she works in the surgical unit of a local hospital. [2]

Races and results

Results [9]
YearRankLocationDisciplineRace
19892Spa (Liege), BelgiumMountainbike, XC, Elite (F)World Championship
3Redding, USAMountainbike (F) (f)
2Vacaville, CA, USAMountainbike (F)
3Gunnison,USAMountainbike (F) (b)
2Big Bear Lake, CA, USAMountainbike (F)
2Ashland-Siskiyou, OR, USAMountainbike (F)
3Great Gorge, USAMountainbike (F) (a)
3USAMountainbike, XCNational Championship
2Cannes, FranceMountainbike (F)
19911Berlin, GermanyMountainbike (F)
5Mountainbike, XC, Elite (F)World Cup
19923Hunter Mountain, CA, USAMountainbike (F)
2Mammoth Lakes, CA, USAMountainbike (F)
19933Vail, CO, USAMountainbike (F)
2Mammoth Lakes, CA, USAMountainbike (F)
2Plymouth, Great BritainMountainbike (F)
19943Madrid, SpainMountainbike (F)
2Plymouth, Great BritainMountainbike (F)
1Cairns, AustraliaMountainbike (F)
2Vail, CO, USAMountainbike, XC, Elite (F)World Championship
19963USAMountainbike (F)Olympic Games

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Susan DeMattei at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame". mmbhof.org. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Where Are They Now? Chasing Down Susan DeMattei". usacycling.org. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  3. "Where Are They Now? Susan DeMattei". bikemag.com. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  4. "Olympics Database". databaseolympics.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. "Susan DeMattei at the U.S. Bicycling Bike Hall of Fame". usbhof.org. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 "San Rafaels's Susan DeMattei Inducted into the Cycling Hall of Fame!". keepmarinmarin.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  7. Miller, Ernestine (2002). Making Her Mark: Firsts and Milestones in Women's Sports. ISBN   9780071390538 . Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  8. "Mountain Bike World Championship Results". usacycling.org. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  9. Susan DeMattei, Cyclingarchives.org