Mountain Biking Makes It to the Super Bowl in Ad Featuring Kate Courtney Crash Testing New Shades

Overall World Cup XC Champion, Olympian, Leadville winner and record holder, and XC Marathon World Champion are just a few of the many accolades Kate Courtney has achieved in her impressive cycling career. This weekend, she’ll be able to add ‘starring in a Super Bowl commercial’ to her growing list of accomplishments. Oakley and Meta are teaming up for a commercial featuring Kate, along with a number of other prominent athletes and personalities, to push the Vanguard Meta AI sunglasses. 

Over the years, Kate Courtney has made a big impact on the sport of mountain biking. Her World Cup Overall in 2019 was the first for an American in 17 years, and undoubtedly helped to inspire the next generation of American mountain bike talent. In addition to simply being an inspiration, Courtney has also worked to empower women through mountain biking and get more females into the sport through her She Sends Foundation. 

Now, Kate Courtney is taking mountain biking about as mainstream as it can possibly go — a Super Bowl commercial. In the Oakley Meta ad, she’s starring alongside director/actor/activist Spike Lee, NFL superstar Marshawn Lynch, and others. And although the ad will clearly be promoting Oakley and Meta’s AI sunglasses, it will also be putting one of the most successful and influential female cyclists of our generation, and the sport of mountain biking, in front of billions of eyes across the globe. Bravo.

A Super Bowl commercial is certainly big news, but we’re looking forward to seeing what’s next for Kate Courtney and the She Sends Foundation. One thing we do know is that she’ll be teaming up with her toughest competition from Leadville — and the only other woman to go sub 7 hours — Melisa Rollins for the Absa Cape Epic. We’ll be watching the She Sends Foundation team as they take on the world March 15-22, 2026. Best of luck to Kate and Melisa!

shesendsfoundation.org