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When did mountain biking first become an Olympic event?
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cycling
Individual Neutral Athlete Gleb Syritsa, a Russian passport holder, cycling past Les Invalides during the men's road cycling individual time trial at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Mountain biking first became an Olympic event in 1996. The debut featured two cross-country races, one for men and one for women.12
As a discipline of cycling, mountain biking is held off-road on tracks featuring natural obstacles and varied terrain, distinguishing it from road and track cycling events.1