Olympics | Thrills and spills assured in mountain biking on muddy Elancourt hill

PARIS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Mountain biking makes its eighth appearance at the Olympic Games after debuting at Atlanta in 1996 and this year's event at Paris again promises its share of thrills and spills.

Heavy rain on Friday and Saturday has changed the character of a course that defending champion in men's event, Britain's Tom Pidcock described as "bland" with mud replacing dust on the switchback climb and ste