In the late 1960’s, A group named the “Larkspur Canyon Gang” Started what we know today as Mountain Biking. If it weren’t for this adventurous group of individuals, Mountain Biking would not receive as much respect and it would never have been recognized as a sport by anyone. After becoming popular around the 1970’s, this “ New Idea” caught the attention of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) And about two decades later, mountain biking was introduced as an official Olympic sport in the 1996, Atlanta Olympic games. This drew multiple very talented mountain bikers from all across the world.

          This gets us into the question of, “Is Mountain Biking really a sport?” The Oxford dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Mountain biking is similar to swimming in the context of a team. They both have teams with individuals that compete by themselves to score points for their team as a whole. In mountain biking, you also need a lot of muscle and have to be fit to be able to do it well, especially in a competition or race. So by that definition, mountain biking is indeed, considered a sport, not just by the Oxford Dictionary, but also by the International Olympic Committee.