Updated: Chloe Woodruff Resigns from Olympic Team, Replaced by Erin Huck After Arbitration

Jul 1, 2021 at 17:00
by Alicia Leggett  
Chloe Woodruff was so far ahead we thought for a moment she was getting lapped.
Chloe Woodruff took her first-ever World Cup short track win in Nove Mesto in 2019.

Chloe Woodruff has resigned from the U.S. Olympic Mountain Bike Team, citing personal reasons, USA Cycling said today in a statement. The U.S. National Champion placed 14th at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and had planned to race in Tokyo as the third member of the U.S. team alongside Kate Courtney and Haley Batten. Unlike Courtney and Batten, who qualified automatically based on their results, Woodruff was selected by a USA Cycling committee to fill the third spot.

Erin Huck, who will replace Woodruff, is currently ranked 26th in the World Cup standings after placing 15th in Albstadt, placing 16th in Nove Mesto, and not racing Leogang. Like many of the Olympic Long Team members, she was heartbroken when she originally was not selected. The exact events between Woodruff's selection for the team and subsequent resignation and Huck's taking her place are unclear, but several sources say there was an arbitration process. No one has said whether Woodruff resigned during or after the dispute.

According to the Associated Press, "The decision by USA Cycling’s eight-member selection committee to pick Woodruff over Huck was so close that it led Huck to request an arbitration hearing, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because those hearings take place behind closed doors and are not considered public knowledge."


Filmmaker and photographer Allen Krughoff shared a celebratory post on Instagram that originally included the paragraph, "Arbitrator agreed that the selection committee didn't follow their own protocol, leaving Erin off the team, and sent the decision back to selection committee to re-evaluate. Prop to Erin for sticking up for what she felt was a deserved spot on the team." That section now reads [redacted].

It is certainly true that Huck has shown better form this year than Woodruff, who placed 30th in Albstadt and 64th in Nove Mesto and is currently ranked 41st in the World Cup overall after skipping Leogang. It makes sense that many would have expected the third spot on the team to go to Huck.

USA Cycling, however, denies that Krughoff's version of the story is true. In a message to Bill Schieken of CXHAIRS who shared screenshots of Krughoff's post, USA Cycling wrote, "The information Allen posted is not accurate. Yes there was an arbitration underway. However, this decision was made by Chloe herself and not the result of the arbitration. We are working to correct Allen’s post," according to Schieken.


Huck, too, deleted an Instagram post about the situation then re-posted it with the mention of arbitration removed, according to screenshots from Ryan Simonovich, who posted a Twitter thread that details the saga.

Huck, now 40 and living in Tuscon, Arizona, starting racing mountain bikes in her late twenties. She developed as a recreational racer while working as an engineering program manager, eventually earning a discretionary spot on the U.S. World Champs team after a strong showing at the U.S. National Championships. Things snowballed from there, and she has spent most of the last decade as one of the top U.S. pro racers and a consistent top-20 rider on the international scene.

Over the last few years, she and the other Olympic Long Team members have worked together to earn as many UCI points as possible so that the U.S. would be granted a third Olympic women's spot. After the Games were postponed in 2020, the so-called 'US-Slay' squad held their own training camp to help each other become the best they could be. While tough competitors, they all played their part in creating a remarkably strong team together.

With the Olympics opening in just a few weeks, it's almost time for all that work to go into action. We have reached out to Chloe Woodruff and Erin Huck for additional comment. We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

Author Info:
alicialeggett avatar

Member since Jun 19, 2015
740 articles

51 Comments
  • 84 3
 USA Cycling (USAC) is using this as a cop out. Erin brought arbitration and won on the grounds that USAC had not followed the standards for selection accurately. At the very least it would have gone back to the selection committee for another vote. Whether Chloe resigned due to that fact or 'personal reasons' does not really matter.

USAC is making no mention of the fact that they lost arbitration as it would reveal their continued mistakes and make them look bad. Their selection process and application of standards is massively flawed and has shown zero indication of change or improvement.

Using the resignation with zero mention of arbitration is a cop out, plain and simple. The truth and facts should be in the open; be honest and work to improve it. The more clarity and transparency there is the better for everyone, especially the athletes that are affected.
  • 33 0
 Not surprised if true. USA Cycle is a shady org no doubt. Been that way for years
  • 10 0
 and mentions of arbitration have now been *redacted*…

www.instagram.com/p/CQzMpcPMObG/?utm_medium=copy_link
  • 20 2
 USACYCLING is super sleazy. They lost arbitration and are now lying about it. They’re using Chloe to save face with no mention that Erin actually earned the spot. They were wrong, acted egregiously, and is now trying to cover it up.
  • 11 0
 Wow, USA cycling doesn't look great here. What dirtbags! They don't seem to realize that the Olympics are peoples dreams. They just tease people and play with their emotions. Shame on them!
  • 4 0
 Exactly, the folks at USA Cycling aren’t going to be psyched when they wake up and see this. The truth shall set you free!
  • 4 2
 @packfill: Wouldn't surprise me if USAC paid woodruff to resign on the condition that she doesn't kick up a storm with the press about how they f*cked up
  • 4 0
 Not too surprising after the Sue Haywood debacle from a decade ago
  • 48 1
 40yo and off to the Olympics! Go Erin!
  • 6 0
 Saw her race a local national back earlier in the year. Definitely a beast of a rider.
  • 43 1
 Huck, best last name for a mountain biker.
  • 8 63
flag billreilly (Jul 1, 2021 at 19:07) (Below Threshold)
 But is she flat?
  • 40 7
 @billreilly: username checks out, almost.

Dick.
  • 6 2
 @billreilly: If you are single and women don't like you, this is why.
  • 33 1
 Can we bring back NORBA and quit letting USAC neglect American mountain biking?
  • 4 0
 This please
  • 3 1
 Its been 20 years. Long gone
  • 17 2
 Erin got 16th and Chloe 64th. Ya USA Cycling is a joke. If they were a couple spots away from each other maybe this wouldn't be so obvious. 64th...... really, and they picked her over 15th place. She didn't even crash or have a mechanical in that race. Erin deserved this from the beginning.
  • 16 1
 The chain of events has been very strange. In case anyone's interested twitter.com/ryanasimono/status/1410758662147108865
  • 14 1
 USA Cycling must not remember the debacle they created between Sue Haywood and Mary McConneloug, really tragic they have not developed a better system after all these years and we as a country deserve better for our athletes.
  • 6 0
 yup, if usac can't even do basic math. Leaving them to discretionary standards is like going to the moon for them...
  • 2 0
 Thanks for the Haywood McConnelogg remembrance. The selection system gets dumb too often
  • 11 2
 WTF is wrong with USA cycling? They seem to be doing their best to ruin mountain biking. Erin Huck deserves the Olympic spot and yet, USA cycling doesn't have the integrity to say it. Just say it. You'll feel better afterward.
  • 11 0
 We've had the same kind of issues with the road team. USA cycling are a corrupt private elitist club. Every other country sends their best, should be the same for US.
  • 13 2
 The whole saga just shows how slimy the Olympic movement is.
  • 9 1
 Yeah, I've never quite understood the whole big deal with the Olympics for any sport. A sport's individual world cup/world championship is a way more relevant test of the best. (Except the World Superbowl, ha-ha-ha!)
  • 8 2
 Considering both riders recent results I was dubious about the selection when it was first announced. Something didn't seem right but with all of the COVID crap and the havoc it played I wasn't sure exactly how they took that into account. I know Erin had some issues in 2019 but this year she has been out performing Chloe. As much as I like Chloe I think we're now sending the best team possible. Show 'em you earned Erin!
  • 7 2
 I sincerely hope that Erin can put this nonsense behind her - and now that things are where they should be she SLAYS at the Olympics and makes us all super proud. She is an incredibly talented athlete, gifted rider, and cool person who deserves this and more!
  • 10 1
 Just when you thought you’d seen the worst out of USA Cycling…
  • 7 0
 Offroad to Athens. This is why discretionary choices suck. Congrats to Erin
  • 1 0
 100% this!
  • 6 1
 I feel bad for woodruff....kind of a lose/lose situation. You look undeserving if you go and if you don't go, you realize you could have
  • 7 1
 Haha "Redacted".. That Krughoff is a true artist.
  • 7 1
 Athens vibes all over again.
  • 6 5
 1.) Yikesss.....
2.) I continue to admire the teamwork and camaraderie!
3.) Woodruff was off her game this spring, and there is value in actual experience winning WCs heading into the Olympics.
4.) Woodruff is young enough that she could race in the next olympics, which should tip a discretionary pick in her favor.
5.) How dumb is USAC screwing up their own rules by failing to retain the "discretion" in their "discretionary pick"??
6.) Can the xc team stop saying "slay"? It's weird.
  • 2 0
 I wish I was on an XC team, but alas! I am not fast enough. Smile ))))))
  • 8 4
 3. Past results mean very little compared to current form and results. If that were the case Lea would have gotten the selection based on prior performances. 4. Age/availability for next Olympics is no reason or category for selection....that's technically ageism. 5. If USAC tried to include pure discretion as in 'we will pick who we prefer' in their criteria, it would never stand up to any kind of legal scrutiny. 6. 'Team US slay' is the term the US team women came up with on their own....soooo, seems appropriate.
  • 1 4
 @wilsonians: Age isn't a protected class. It actually would hold up.
  • 4 0
 @clutchkillah: you may be right. But good luck to them saying "oh we are choosing you because you're younger and think you'll be better in a few years" bahaha. If they wanna put that in their discretionary criteria that's fine, they can have fine with every lawsuit under the sun.
  • 3 0
 @wilsonians: I'm glad I'm not the only person who has thought about the age-ism issue. I believe that in at least two other Olympic selections USAC has engaged is ageist practices. Dave Larsen's non-selection in favor of a younger rider comes to mind.
  • 4 1
 Chance of a lifetime to get a call like that.
  • 2 0
 Don't plan on watching any of the cash-grab Olympics
  • 2 1
 why have a selection panel with an even number
  • 1 0
 Olympics? that's the thing old people give a shit about on TV right?
  • 1 0
 Okay this is fascinating
  • 1 0
 ...she got lapped.
  • 2 4
 Huck to flat
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