Mountain biker Adam Craig of Corinth and Bend, Ore., added an international gold medal to his growing resume Saturday, winning the men’s cross country race at the 15th Pan American Games at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Craig jumped out to an immediate lead on a newly built jungle course called Morro do Outeiro, or Outeiro Hill, which was described as being in good condition despite heavy rain Wednesday that forced cancellation of Thursday’s pre-race practice.

Craig’s lead on the elite 22-rider field was 25 seconds after the first of seven laps that made up the 27.1-mile race.

Another Maine native, Katherine Poulin-Neff of Fairfield and Newbury, Ohio, combined with Lauren Sammis of Wayne, N.J., and Chris Hickey of Westhampton, Mass., to win gold in Sunday’s dressage team final.

Craig’s closest competitor, Rubens Valeriano of Brazil, stayed within 30 to 35 seconds of Craig through the next three laps, but the American gradually pulled away to a lead of as much as two minutes.

“I opened a gap on the first technical climb up the small- looking but very worthy hill that the course looped up and down three times,” said the Giant Mountain Bike Team rider in an e-mail from the Pan American village. “From there it was just a steady charge to get time on Rubhino, the Brazilian hope who made a solid effort to keep up, pretty impressive actually.”

The 25-year-old Craig, an Exeter native and graduate of Dexter Regional High School who was making his first appearance in the Pan American Games, was timed in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 21 seconds. Valeriano claimed the silver for his home country with a time of 2:07:08 while Dario Alejandro Gasco of Argentina earned the bronze in 2:07:37.

“It was great to come down here and win the first time around,” Craig told USA Cycling after his victory. “Maybe that’s good luck for next year. It is great to be competing with the best athletes in the Americas.

“It’s been great to have a few days in a huge city racing bikes, relaxing and meeting a bunch of people from different countries and sports. I’ll be back in four years if they’ll have me.”

Saturday’s performance by Craig will play a significant role in keeping the United States near the top of international team rankings, a primary factor in determining the number of start positions it receives at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing next summer, according to USA Cycling.

Before the Pan Am Games, the United States was ranked sixth in the world in men’s mountain biking behind France, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and Canada.

The top five national teams in cumulative World Cup points for 2006 and 2007 will be eligible to send three riders to the 2008 Olympics, while other nations will be able to send a maximum of two.

Craig now is ranked 18th in the world and is the top American on the International Cycling Union World Cup point standings, just ahead of U.S. teammates Todd Wells, ranked 19th, and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, 20th.

Craig will return to the Northeast next weekend for the USA Cycling Mountain Biking National Championships at Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt., where he hopes to earn his first national elite men’s cross country title.

Craig is expected to race cross country, short-track and Super D, or downhill, at Mount Snow. Craig is the two-time defending Super D national champion and the 2005 national champ in short-track competition.

Mainer wins gold in dressage

After two rides for both the Americans and the Canadians in the team dressage, there was only a two-tenths of a point difference in the total scores deciding the team gold medal. The title came down to the scores for Hickey and Canadian Andrea Bresee.

Hickey, aboard Regent, scored 69.150, which put the duo in second place overall. Bresee’s 65.250 was not enough to lift Canada ahead of the total U.S. score, however.

“I made a few little mistakes, and part of those were rider error … going for it a little too much,” said Hickey. “But I’m very happy with our ending score.”

Poulin-Neff, daughter of former U.S. Olympian Michael Poulin, rode Brilliant Too, an 11-year-old gelding owned by her mother, Sharon Poulin.

Another Maine native, racewalker Kevin Eastler of Farmington and Aurora, Colo., is scheduled to compete in the men’s 20-kilometer racewalk on Sunday, July 22.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.