USA Cycling today announced the mountain bike athletes who are eligible to be nominated to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games. Called the Long Team, these athletes will serve as a pool of riders from which the Olympic Team will be selected.

Men’s Mountain Bike Long Team
Of the eight men named to the squad, five received automatic nominations. 2008 mountain bike Olympian Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized) finished inside the top 10, in seventh, at the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and finished 10th in 2011 UCI World Cup #1 to secure his automatic nomination. Twenty-six year-old Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont./Subaru-Trek) is the youngest automatic nominee, after finishing third overall in USA Cycling’s 2011 Pro Cross-Country Tour (Pro XCT) standings. 2004 mountain bike Olympian Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek), Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va./Cannondale) and 2008 mountain bike Olympian Adam Craig (Bend, Ore./Rabobank-Giant) all finished inside the top 60 of the UCI individual world rankings, therefore earning automatic nominations to the Long Team.
 
2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country national champion in the U23 division Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, Wash./BMC), Spencer Paxson (Seattle, Wash./Kona) and Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes) all received discretionary nods.
 
Women’s Mountain Bike Long Team
A similar model was used to select the women’s mountain bike Long Team as five athletes earned automatic nominations. With top 10 finishes at the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, UCI Mountain Bike World Cups #6 and #7 and as the winner of USA Cycling Pro XCT in 2011, Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized) locked up her automatic nomination. With a fifth-place finish at the 2011 UCI World Cup #5 and second overall in the 2011 Pro XCT, 2008 mountain bike Olympian Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna) secured her spot. Wife of Horgan-Kobelski, Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek) earned the automatic nod after finishing the year ranked 24th internationally. Mountain bike Olympian in 2004 and 2008, Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif./ Kenda-Seven-NoTubes) and Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Rabobank), who also excels in the cyclo-cross discipline, also earned automatic nominations via their top-50 international ranking.
 
Willow Rockwell (Durango, Colo./Trek World Racing), who won the bronze medal at the 2009 and 2010 World Championships is a discretionary nominee, along with Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz./BMC), Krista Park (Madison, S.D./Cannondale-No Tubes) and Judy Freeman (Brighton, Colo./Kenda-Felt). 
 
2012 U.S. Olympic Mountain Bike Long Team
Men
Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va./Cannondale)*
Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes)
Adam Craig (Bend, Ore./Rabobank-Giant)*
Stephen Ettinger (Cashmere, Wash./BMC)
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek)*
Spencer Paxson (Seattle, Wash./Kona)
Sam Schultz (Missoula, Mont./Subaru-Trek)*
Todd Wells (Durango, Colo./Specialized)*
 
Women
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Rabobank)*
Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized)*
Judy Freeman (Brighton, Colo./Kenda-Felt)
Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna) *
Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek)*
Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif./Kenda-Seven-NoTubes)*
Krista Park (Madison, S.D./Cannondale-No Tubes)
Willow Rockwell (Durango, Colo./Trek World Racing)
Chloe Woodruff (Tucson, Ariz./BMC)
 
*Automatic Nomination


Todd Wells is an automatic seed as is the guy chasing him, Jeremiah Bishop.