Student-athlete spotlight: Jette Aelken places 2nd at the collegiate mountain bike nationals

Written by Leah Kilde. Photos by Edie Manfred.

Jette Aelken, a lifelong athlete, discovered her passion for cycling at age 11. After attending a bike festival in her hometown, she begged her parents to sign her up for mountain biking. At first, Aelken experienced some pushback from her parents because she was already involved in so many different sports. But their doubts quickly dissolved when they realized that their daughter was truly passionate about mountain biking.

Aelken remembers showing up to her first practice on a 3-gear city bike, while her seasoned peers had full-suspension mountain bikes. “I felt nervous and unprepared. I didn’t know if I was in the right place,” she says. But when it was time for practice to begin, she was ready to ride. That day, the coach had planned for a downhill ride. Many of the athletes panicked, but not Aelken. She was the first to make it down the hill.

Soon after her first mountain bike practice, Aelken convinced her parents to invest in a used mountain bike for her. They agreed – but only under the condition that she would stick to mountain biking for at least a year to justify the purchase. After a few rides on her new bike, Aelken participated in her first race. “I raced in my hometown and got first after practicing for three weeks. We were surprised that I did so well,” she says.  

Fast-forward to 2023, Aelken now spends the summers competing in UCI mountain bike world cups across Europe. Her passion for mountain biking also led her to SCAD. When she learned that SCAD offers an architecture program and has a collegiate cycling team, she was determined to pursue that path.

Today, Aelken is the first SCAD student-athlete to place on the podium in mountain biking. At the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in October 2023, Aelken got fifth in the cross-country event and third in the short track. Next year, her goal is to place even higher.

“There are high goals we want to reach, and I think we can do it,” she says. The “we” in question is her team. Aelken speaks fondly of her team and the time they spent together throughout the season. She is focused on training and preparing for the 2024 road cycling season starting in March.