Katie Compton

Date of Birth: December 3, 1978
Height: 5'6"/1.7m
Weight: 137 lbs./62 kg./9.9 st.
Place of Birth: Newark, Delaware
Hometown: Newark, Delaware
Residence: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Teams: Trek Cyclocross Collective
Education: University of Delaware

Olympic Experience/UCI World Championships Results

• 2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships — Louisville, Kentucky (2nd place, Elite Women)
• 2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships — Koksijde, Belgium (5th place, Elite Women)
• 2011 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships — Sankt Wendel, Germany (2nd place, Elite Women)
• Member of the USA team for UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, 2009 (Canberra, Australia) and 2010 (Windham, New York)
• 2009 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships — Tabor, Czech Republic (3rd place, Elite Women)
• 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships — Hooglede-Grits, Belgium (2nd place, Elite Women)
• 2004 Paralympic Games — Athens, Greece (Gold medal – Tandem pilot for blind athlete Karissa Whitsell, Road Race/Time Trial; Gold medal – Tandem pilot for blind athlete Karissa Whitsell, 3k Individual Pursuit, Track cycling; Silver medal – Tandem pilot for blind athlete Karissa Whitsell, 1k Individual Pursuit, Track cycling; Bronze medal – Tandem pilot for blind athlete Karissa Whitsell, Tandem Sprint, Track cycling)

National Championships

• 2004-2010, 2012, 2013 USA Cycling Elite Cyclo-cross National Champion
• 2012 USA Cycling Elite Track Madison National Champion (with Cari Higgins)
• 2008, 2010, 2011 USA Cycling Pro Short Track Mountain Bike National Champion

Career Highlights

• Overall winner — 2012/13 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup women's elite rankings
• 1st — 2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Namur, Belgium
• 1st — 2012 Scheldecross, Antwerp, Belgium
• 1st — 2012 Druivencross, Overijse, Belgium
• 1st — 2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Roubaix, France
• 1st — 2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde, Belgium
• 1st — 2012 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Plzen, Czech Republic
• 1st — 2011 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Plzen, Czech Republic
• Overall winner — 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup women's elite rankings
• 1st — 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Hoogerheide, Netherlands
• 1st — 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
• 1st — 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Kalmthout, Belgium
• 1st — 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde, Belgium
• 1st — 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Aigle, Switzerland
• 1st — 2009 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Nommay, France
• 1st — 2009 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Treviso, Italy
• 1st — 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Nommay, France
• 1st — 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde, Belgium
• 1st — 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde, Belgium
• 1st — 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Pijnacker, Netherlands

Points of Interest

• In 2007, Katie became the first American woman to earn a medal at the UCI Elite Cyclo-cross World Championships.

• Not very much was known about her when Katie showed up at USA Cycling's Cyclo-cross Nationals in 2004. Because the Paralympics prohibits racers with UCI points from competing, Compton was unable to race in any race where she might win UCI points. Then, at cyclo-cross nationals, she won the champion's jersey and she was hooked.

Personal

Despite a rare condition that she occasionally alludes to, Katie Compton forged her reputation as a swift, powerful racer ideally suited for races requiring a sustained, maximum effort for a period lasting two hours or less. Compton suffers debilitating leg cramps caused by an enzyme depletion that can cancel race plans for weeks at a time. However, for a racer who has collected six consecutive national cyclo-cross titles, two national mountain bike titles in short track, a silver medal at the 2007 Cyclo-Cross World Championships, and bronze at the 2009 World Championships, Compton manages her shortcoming just fine, so it seems.
 
Prior to amassing individual titles and podium finishes, Compton raced internationally on the track as the sighted member of a tandem team. She traveled to the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece, where she collected four medals and set a world record in the three kilometers pursuit along with her tandem partner, Karissa Whitsell.
 
These days Compton's husband, manager, and mechanic, Mark Legg, sees to it that nothing blocks Compton's medal aspirations in terms of the equipment. Together, Compton and Legg work to craft the swiftest possible racing machine, with Compton focusing on the physical and tactical and Legg, the mechanical.
 
To keep herself busy outside of racing, Compton coaches other racers. In her free time she likes to cook and bake, drink wine, ski in the offseason, hang out with her dog, and follow F1 racing.