Who Is Kristen Faulkner? Road Cyclist at the Olympics
On Sunday, Kristen Faulkner crossed the finish line at the Trocadéro in Paris, France and made history by securing America’s first Olympic road race medal in 40 years.
She completed the event in just under four hours ahead of eventual silver medalist Dutch rider Marianne Vos, who is considered one of the greatest female cyclists of all time. What separated them? 58 seconds.
Faulkner sealed her photo first-place finish with a well-timed attack with 3 kilometers left in the race, leaving Vos and two other riders in the medal-contending clump scrambling to catch her.
The 158-kilometer (98-mile) race features 1,700 meters of elevation climbing throughout Paris’ cobblestone streets. The final leg takes place on a city circuit in the hilltop neighborhood Montmartre.
The last Americans to take home an Olympic medal, of any color, were Connie Carpenter and Alexi Grewal who swept the gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Games when the event debuted.
Who is Kristen Faulkner
The 31-year-old Homer, Alaska native was a junior world championships medalist in rowing. She graduated from Harvard University where she rowed varsity crew for two years and completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
A newcomer to the sport relative to her prodigally trained competitors, Faulkner began riding as a hobby in 2017. What started as a break from her 9 to 5 job as a venture capitalist in New York City, evolved into a gold-medal-earning endeavor.
“Other sports I was good at and enjoyed but I didn’t have that same deep passion that I do with cycling,” Faulkner told NBC News in a recent interview.
After winning her first pro race in 2020, Faulkner quit her day job to pursue a full-time career in cycling.
She made her first imposing impression in the international racing circuit In 2022 when she won a pair of stages at the Giro d’Italia Donne and a stage at the Tour de Suisse Women. She also finished second overall at the Tour de Suisse and third overall at Itzulia Women.
Kristen Faulkner’s path to the Olympics
As if her path to mounting a road racing bike as an Olympian wasn’t unconventional enough, that Faulkner even participated in this year’s edition of women’s road race was equally unexpected.
Faulkner placed 2nd in the U.S. Olympic trials in road cycling earlier this year, falling just short of qualifying for Olympic participation in the women’s road race event.
In July, Team USA announced she would serve as a last-minute replacement for American time trial champion Taylor Knibb, who resigned from the road race in order to focus on other Olympic events.
What’s next for Kristen Faulkner
With an individual gold medal to her name, Faulkner’s next Olympic goal is for Team USA to medal in the Cycling Team Pursuit event on Tuesday.
Team USA enters the competition as a favorite for a podium finish after taking home the bronze medal in the event at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The team pursuit is a classic Olympic Games endurance event whereby each team, composed of four riders each, races together across 16 laps (4km). Each teammate takes turns pulling with the others drafting in a straight line.
