USA Cycling announced today the 18 elite and junior athletes that will represent the United States at the 2017 UCI BMX World Championships in Rock Hill, SC, July 25-30. Headlining the elite men’s team will be 2016 Olympic Champion Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX-Monster Energy) who was an automatic qualifier based on his gold medal performance in Rio last summer. Fields will be joined by Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes-Dans Comp), who qualified with a third place world championship effort in 2016, and by Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./Daylight Cycle Co.), who qualified as the overall 2016 World Cup and overall 2016 UCI rankings winner. Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif.), Jared Garcia (Victorville, Calif.), Zach Van Kammen (Lake Elsinore, Calif.), Justin Posey (Winston Salem, NC), Jeremy Smith (Dayton, Ohio), and Jeffrey Upshaw (Dayton, Ohio) will also represent the United States in the elite men’s competition.
Alise Post (Chula Vista, Calif./Redline USA) will be another 2016 Olympic medalist representing the red, white and blue in South Carolina this summer. Post earned her automatic qualification to the elite women’s squad as the silver medalist from Rio last year. She is also the reigning national champion and the bronze medalist from last year’s worlds. Post will be joined by Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bikes-Dans Comp) who qualified with her fourth-place Olympic effort and her fifth-place spot in the overall UCI rankings from 2016. Rounding out the women’s squad will be Dani George (Palmdale, Calif.), Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas), Mika Shaw (Bailey, Colo.), and Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, Ill.).