Truckee woman representing Czech Republic in Olympics
By Lauren Gustus, Reno Gazette-Journal
Blame her chosen sport, the country she’s riding for or the town she’s decided to make her home.
Katerina Nash is flying into the London Olympics about as far under the radar as is possible.
And that’s precisely how the Truckee mountain biker prefers it.
“I think being a Czech citizen, she kind of falls through the cracks,” her husband, Marcus Nash, said. “If you read the media race reports, people say she’s kind of overlooked because she’s not from the U.S.”
The 34-year-old has called Truckee home for more than a decade. But the native of Prachatice, Czech Republic, will compete for her birth country in women’s mountain biking on Aug. 11 at Hadleigh Farm in Essex, just outside of London.
She will skip the opening festivities in London for a World Cup race nearby and then head to a hotel closer to her venue to allow for easier access to the course.
“To be an Olympic athlete, it kind of sounds really cool, and it is cool. But I am going to be racing in France the day of the Opening Ceremony,” Nash said. “We are staying in Essex. We don’t get to stay in the Olympic Village. You’re already taking away all of the elements of people’s perception of you’re going to do this really cool stuff. Really, you’re going to do this really important stuff.
“All the fun stuff kind of gets pretty much eliminated.”
Well, not all of it. With a little luck, the UNR graduate could find herself on the podium.
Since its inception in 2002, Nash has been on Luna Chix Pro Team, a women’s outfit sponsored by Clif Bar, among others. She is the No. 12-ranked racer in the International Cycling Union’s World Cup cross country standings.
