Kristen Faulkner’s road race gamble pays off in the Paris Olympics, from ‘nearly didn’t race’ to a gold medal 2024 news
Kristen Faulkner of Alaska couldn’t click her cycling shoes into her pedals seven years ago. Now she’s a champion in Paris
Kristen Faulkner of the United States was not on anyone’s radar for the Olympics until one month before she won the country’s first gold medal in the road race in 40 years. In fact, at the start of July, she wasn’t even anticipated to start the road race; her attention was only on the Team Pursuit event, which begins on Tuesday.
However, the 31-year-old from Alaska got into the road race in a roundabout way, then defeated two of the finest female cyclists of all time – Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) – with a scorching assault nearly precisely 4km Team Pursuit from the finish line.
Kristen Faulkner couldn’t believe she’d won as she crossed the finish line beside the Eiffel Tower, so she didn’t give a victory salute until she passed the press photographer’s pen.
“I knew I had won, but to be honest, it seemed a little weird. I suppose, even though I came here certain that I’d get a medal when I crossed the finish line, I didn’t truly take it in because it was simply too much for me.”
Kristen Faulkner’s route to the top of the Olympic road race podium was both quick and long. She was a former rower who had graduated from Harvard and was now working in finance. She had only started riding a bike in 2017, and little over three years ago, she quit a stable job in New York City to pursue a professional cycling career in 2021.
Her climb through the ranks has been nothing short of spectacular, but the Olympics on the road were not the peak she had hoped for. Kristen Faulkner missed automatic qualification for the US road team after finishing second to triathlete Taylor Knibb by 11 seconds in the individual time trial national championships in May. As a result, she shifted her emphasis back to the Team Pursuit, which she had been training for for more than a year.
Her road race goals were realized when USA Cycling revealed on July 9 that Knibb had denied her berth on the squad for the road event due to a lack of bunch racing experience, and Faulkner was suddenly in the road race with ChloƩ Dygert.
Even throughout the race, she admitted, she pondered pulling out to conserve herself for the track.
“Because I had Team Pursuit in two days, I almost skipped the road event. The reason is because I believe we have a really good squad for the squad Pursuit. I believe we’re medal contenders. So I had to question myself, ‘Am I medal capable in the road race as well?’ “Because, ultimately, USA Cycling wants us to wear medals, which is why we’re here,” she explained.
“We are medal contenders in the Team Pursuit, and it was a significant risk for me to complete the road event since I may or may not be more exhausted from running the road race before the Team Pursuit. So I needed to actually sit down with my coaches. I had to consider if I could truly win a medal in the road event.
It was exactly the type of meticulous study and risk assessment that she had been educated for in her former venture capital career, and the risk was well worth it.
Knibb’s decision to enter Kristen Faulkner in the road race did not stem from a sudden change of heart, she stated in the post-race news conference.
“The previous few months, and especially the last week, have been filled with talks between myself, USA Cycling, and my coaches about how I can compete today and how to maximize my recovery for team pursuit if I do.
“As part of my training, I conducted a lot of racing simulations, then an easy day, and finally a track day. Through those racing simulations, I discovered that I recovered fairly well and was able to arrive at the track fully prepared for the race.
“I made an agreement with my track coaches that I would only do the road race if I felt that I was medal capable, and if at any point I got dropped from the front group and I was no longer in contention for a medal, I would pull out of the race and recover for the Team Pursuit.”
Fortunately for Faulkner and USA Cycling, she had excellent form and racing knowledge much above her years in the sport. She not only avoided a crash with colleague Dygert with 48km to go, but she also quickly moved into the lead group, leaving race favourites like Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) to burn matches pursuing.
When Vos broke away from Hungary’s Blanka Vas with little over 20 kilometers to go, Kristen Faulkner was still in medal contention in the pursuing group, but he looked to wait until the final kms to commit fully, keeping his mind on Kopecky.
“I felt strong all day, and after the first time up the cobbled climb, I said, ‘I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in a long time.'” So I’m going to go for it, finish the race, and get a medal.”
Then, during the thrilling pursuit with Kopecky, Faulkner ensured that her Belgian partner kept working to narrow the deficit on Vos and Vas, which they achieved with 4km to go. She attacked relatively quickly, knowing that she would not win a sprint against those three riders.
Kristen Faulkner will now join Dygert, Lily Williams, Olivia Cummins, and Tokyo Omnium gold medalist Jen Valente at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, where she will focus on winning medals for everyone.
“I still believe we can win another medal in squad Pursuit since we have a really good squad. And, yes, I want to go away with two medals.”
