Sofía Gómez Villafane (born 15 April 1994) is an Argentine cross-country mountain biker and

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

cyclist. She represented

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Women's cross-country.

Career

She was raised in

Esquel Esquel is a town in the northwest of Chubut Province in Argentine Patagonia. It is located in Futaleufú Department, of which it is the government seat. Esquel is the home station for “La Trochita,” a historic narrow gauge railway known in En ...

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

until she was twelve, before moving with her family to

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...

. The fifth child of six, she discovered mountain biking through the NorCal High School Mountain Bike Program, and her brother found her a bike on

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

for $500. She went on to compete at the collegiate level for

Fort Lewis College Fort Lewis College (FLC) is a public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado, and the only four-year and graduate studies institution in the Four Corners region. FLC's historical evolution spans its origins as a U.S. military fort, an Indian ...

Durango, Colorado Durango is the home rule city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College ...

, where she received a Bachelor’s in exercise science and a minor in business administration. She races primarily in North America and is the 2019 Argentine national cross-country champion. She won the 2019 Epic Rides series, defeating World Cup champion Kate Courtney in the final race. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

, in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, she won a silver medal in the cross-country race. In 2021, she became the first female mountain biker to compete in the Olympics for Argentina since 2004 by qualifying to compete in the cross-country event. In 2022, she raced on a duo team with Haley Batten to a victory in South Africa at the Cape Epic mountain bike stage race.

Personal life

She and her boyfriend,

Keegan Swenson Keegan Swenson (born February 16, 1994) is an American mountain bike and gravel racing cyclist. Road cycling In September 2022 he received a late call-up to represent USA Cycling in 2022 UCI Road World Championships. He finished the road race ...

, met through mountain biking in 2012. They regularly train and travel to competitions together. Villafañe resides in

Heber City, Utah Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah. The population was 16,856 as of the 2020 United States census. The city is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. History Heber City was first settled in 1859 by Robert Broad ...

, United States. She has a dual American and Argentine nationality.

References

External links

* * * * 1994 births Living people Argentine female cyclists Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games 21st-century Argentine sportswomen {{Argentina-cycling-bio-stub