Meet Kristen Faulkner, New American Cyclist Who Won Two Gold Medals

Kristen Faulkner would have never thought she would be on top of an Olympic podium when she was in college. However, at 31 years old, Faulkner has scored not one, but 2 gold medals for the United States. The now gold medallist cyclist had a completely different career path only a few years ago, but she has officially ended the 40-year streak that saw a lack of gold medals in road race events for American women.

Kristen Faulkner's Journey to Cycling

Faulkner grew up in Homer, Alaska, a place that she has said inculcated a love for nature and the outdoors in her. Faulkner has been on the path to excellence since she was a teenager, completing her bachelor's degree in computer science at Harvard, where she was a part of the university rowing team. She thus spent the initial days of her sporting journey with her Harvard-Radcliffe Lightweight Rowing team, which came in second at a world junior rowing championship.

After college, Faulkner moved to New York City to join a venture capital firm. She has previously told the media that her background in finance has helped her in her cycling career. She said, ''A lot of what I learned to do is how to take calculated risks. In a race, I take that mindset with me,'' NDTV reported. 

She joined her first cycling class in 2017 to elevate some of the stress of her Manhattan VC job. Cycling, for her, started out as just riding around Central Park on the weekends. However, by 2020, she was already cycling with Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank. The team, according to NDTV, was the longest-running professional women's cycling team in North America at the time.

Cycling career and the Olympics

Faulkner left her New York job to pursue cycling full-time around 2021. She continued doing what she loves and now races with the American Continental Women Team EF-Oatly-Cannondale.

In the season of 2023, she won five road races, such as a grand tour stage at the Vuelta Espana Femenina and even a US national title. Though she did not qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the first round, she seized her chance to compete with Team USA when cyclist Taylor Knibb reportedly decided to focus on the triathlon.

She joined the team only a month before the Olympics began. Despite joining late, Faulkner is bringing home two whole gold medals, that too at her debut Olympics. At the Games, she raced alongside Afghan refugee sisters Yulduz and Fariba.

She won the gold in the Women's Road Race final on August 4. Her second gold medal came a mere three days later when Team USA won the Women's Team Pursuit event. She celebrated this victory alongside her teammates Jennifer Valente, Lily Williams, and Chloe Dygert.

Her gold medals are even more special as this was the first Olympic gold medal won by an American in women's cycling in the last 40 years. The last gold medal in American women's cycling was secured by Connie Carpenter at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

After her first gold, Faulkner was both shocked and proud of herself. ''This is a dream come true. I'm still looking at that finish line sign and wondering how my name got there,'' she told Olympics.com.