Olympics 2021: Meet Kata Blanka Vas, the next big thing in multi-discipline

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You may not know the name Kata Blanka Vas very well yet, but you will.

The Hungarian 19-year-old was snapped up by cycling behemoth SD Worx earlier this year and she’s on course to become the next big thing in multi-discipline racing.

Vas, runner up in last year’s mountain bike worlds U23 cross country race, will be lining up Tuesday in the Olympic cross-country mountain bike event in Tokyo after stepping out of the junior ranks less than a year ago.

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“It’s incredible. Three years ago, I didn’t think I will go to the Olympics because I was a junior,” Vas told VeloNews. “I thought I hadn’t the chance to go but then in Hungary, we had the three qualification races. I could start just two races because the third race was when I was a junior. I won those two races, and I could go to the Olympics.

“It’s the biggest race and everybody speaks about the Olympics. I always saw it on the TV with my family and it was my dream. It’s a very big thing.”

Vas will be an outsider going into the race, with some older and more experienced competitors vying for the gold medal. However, the Tokyo Olympics will provide some invaluable experience in what is likely to be the first of many appearances at the multi-sport.

With her lightweight frame of just 49kg, Vas is looking forward to testing herself on the hilly course.

“I have not been on the course, but I’ve seen some videos and I really like it,” Vas said. “Maybe the steep uphills suit me but also the technical downhills and I really like the rain. So, I hope it will be raining.”

Unfortunately for Vas, the weather is unlikely to go her way with temperatures of up to 33C degrees expected in Tokyo on Tuesday.

A little bit of everything

While Vas has focused her efforts on mountain biking in recent months, it is not the only discipline in her skillset. Over the winter, she showed herself as a promising cyclo-cross talent by beating Inge van der Heijden and Sanne Cant to win in Gullegem, and taking bronze in the U23 race at the world championships.

Her road record is less proven but she still has some strong results with the Hungarian national time trial and road race title — on top of her mountain bike and cyclocross titles — a third place in the youth classification at the 2020 Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and seventh in the junior road race at the 2019 world championships.

Most of her childhood cycling heroes speak to her desire to boss it in several disciplines.

“When I…