Savilia Blunk on the Olympics, riding for a French team, and preparing for Worlds

Savilia Blunk recaps her Olympic experience and what the rest of her year will look like

Ryan MTB: What was the whole Olympic experience like?

Savilia Blunk: It was incredible. It is still sinking in for sure. I'm still processing the race and everything. The experience was was like so many things. It was super overwhelming, just being at the Olympics and all of the athlete village and everything, and then trying to also focus on the biggest race in my life.

It was a really intense build up for that race, and not just for the race, but also even more so for the qualification. My best shot of qualifying was at the first two World Cups of the season in April which were held in Brazil. So I focused super heavily on that, because I was just really all in on qualifying, and that was two top five finishes of the first two World Cups.

I focused really heavily for Brazil in April, and then achieved that, and kind of had this reset and refocus, recalibrating for the next big goal. Now that I'm qualified, now we have this race. For me it was always not just to go to things to participate, but to go and to perform. Then the next three months was another really big build for the Olympic race.

I’m still processing the race because it was a bit of a disappointment. Some things happened in the last couple weeks leading into it that were really challenging to balance. I think that initially I was really disappointed with my race because the form I had on the day—I wasn't able to fight for the results that I was hoping for.

I think that the whole experience of training or just building and qualifying and reaching that pinnacle, I learned so much from it. I know that because it didn't all go perfectly, I feel like I learned the maximum there was to learn. If things had gone perfectly, there might be some things that I wouldn't have learned because I wouldn't have faced those challenges. I am really grateful for everything that happened because I think I learned the maximum, and now I'm really just trying to let that sink in and really learn how I can be a better athlete from that experience.

Does racing the Olympics feel different than other big races like World Cups or World Championships?

The biggest thing with Olympics was the whole hype and atmosphere around the Olympics. Normally, we go to World Champs or a World Cup and it's just all about the race. But there's so much more than the Olympic race to the Olympics.

You kind of put your athlete life and persona, everything about being an athlete, you kind of put that aside. You go through team processing, and you go into the village, and you experience all of that. We actually didn't stay in the village. We stayed outside a hotel because the race course was like an hour outside of Paris. So once we got to the hotel, it was like, oh okay, this is more normal. Now I can focus on this race that I have in like three days.

The course was really unique. I think it's pretty typical that Olympic courses are more man made and artificial, and that was definitely the case with this one. That was really interesting and kind of a different experience to race on. The dynamics were different— a lot faster, a lot more tactical.

Also just the environment during the race was, was insane. I mean, it was by far the most insane atmosphere I've ever raced, and we’ve raced with some pretty crazy spectators. You know, Nove Mesto is really iconic for the spectators, and there's sections of Novo Mesto that were similar to Paris, but from the start, it was just like a roar the entire race. There was nowhere that it was silent and that was just insane. I guess I didn't really think about that before the race. I mean you don't really think about how loud the spectators are going to be, right, but during the race it was incredible so that was pretty cool.

The French people really showed up. You could hear them on TV, chanting for Pauline. How is it, by the way, being on the Decathlon-Ford team? It’s basically all French, right?

It's a fully French team, fully French staff. And then the athletes is kind of a mix. We have a few French riders, and then Italian, Belgium, New Zealand, and me [American]. It's awesome. I'm really happy with where I'm at, and they've been super supportive of my unique schedule being an American and living on a different continent than most of the World Cups. They are really being adaptable to to my situation. It's fun. I really enjoy being with them, and it's definitely a very different environment than you know, if you were on a fully American team. But for me I really enjoy that perspective and they've been really incredible.

Have you learned any French?

I do not speak it, but I've definitely picked up a lot more. I've been with them for two years now, and I can understand more for sure. If they're having a conversation, I kind of know the gist of what they're talking about, but speaking it is so hard and I'm useless.

It’s definitely a challenging language

Yeah, it's hard when you don't pronounce half of every word, and also there's one word that they use for like 20 different things. It’s my dream [to be able to speak more] for sure.

Have you thought much about the future? Do you want to go back to the Olympics?

I haven't really thought about the next four years. It was such an intense build for the Olympics and now I'm really just trying to bring the balance back into my life. I also have World Champs so that is another really big goal for me. Especially because the Olympics went the way it did, I feel really energized for that race. I worked really hard leading up to the Olympics, and I know all that work wasn't just for the Olympic race. It was for Worlds and the end of the season so I really want to do that justice.

I'm focused on that right now, and it's really good to be back in Durango and be around my people and kind of bring that balance back and bring that joy into the whole training and preparation phase.

I absolutely want to go back to the Olympics. The next opportunity is in LA and it's another incredible opportunity. Like I said, I feel like I learned the maximum from that experience. There was so many people that were telling me before the Olympics, like, oh, it's your first Olympics, you know, no pressure. Just go for the experience, don't go for a result. Just get the experience of your first Olympics. But me being kind of just who I am, I'm going to set my eyes on the on the highest place I can. I know what they meant when they said that. I'm super motivated to to have another shot. Not now, but in four years, I know I'll be ready and I'm super motivated for that. It’s a really incredible experience and this one's still sinking in, but I definitely want to be back.

Remind me, where are Worlds this year?

They’re in Andorra. So it's actually perfect to be back here in Durango and at altitude so I’m feeling preapared for that.

I bet you’re also looking forward to the races in the US and Canada.

Super exciting. The season is so long, but at least we end the season in North America. That just brings so much energy to all of us over here. We're like, heck yeah, we got this.