Christopher Blevins has returned to the U.S. after competing in mountain biking during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Blevins, a Cal Poly graduate, was born in Durango, Colorado, and trained for mountain bike riding since he was a kid.
After five years of intense training, the 23-year-old made his way to Tokyo to compete in the Olympic Games.
Blevins said, “It went by really quickly, just eight days over there. You spend the first few days adjusting, then a couple days planning for the race, and then it’s over. It went by quickly and I’m looking back and processing it. The most special part of it was hearing all the love from Durango, from San Luis Obispo, and from everyone in the mountain bike community in the United States. That was insane.”
The experience of racing on the world's biggest stage did not impact Blevins come race time.
Blevins said, “From my vantage point, I was in the third row at the start, you’re just looking at the top 25 in front of you. Even though it was a super small field, it felt the same as a World Cup.”
Blevins began his training for the Olympics with his roommate of five years from Cal Poly, Anders Johnson.
Johnson said, “We always push each other in training and try to be the best that we can be. It’s really great to see him get to the pinnacle of athletics.”
Blevins said, “It’s funny how your instincts and race intuition jumps up. I’m not thinking about what this means, what the Olympics is like, it was just another bike race and I trusted everything I’ve done before.”
Blevins finished in 14th place out of 38 riders, finishing three minutes shy of first place.
Blevins said, “When I crossed the line, I felt this excitement for what I can do three years from now and what steps I need to take to move up 13 places.”
Blevins will soon return to San Luis Obispo and begin training once again for the Olympics in Paris.
Johnson said, “Being able to train with him has pushed me to do things I wouldn’t have done otherwise and then me training him, there are a lot of things I can help him with and push him to be his best, whether that be showing up on any given day or going all-out on sprint intervals. I wish I could have been in Tokyo, but maybe in Paris, I’ll be cheering him on.”
Blevins said, “I’m really fortunate to be in this position, both doing what I had last week and what I have moving forward.”
Blevins will leave the United States again in two weeks to travel to Italy for the world championships before his return to San Luis Obispo.
