The USA’s Kristen Faulkner wasn’t expected to compete in the road race at the Olympic Games a month before she won the country’s first gold medal in 40 years. Initially focused on the Team Pursuit event, the 25-year-old from Alaska was added to the road race team in a roundabout way. She then stunned the field by beating top cyclists Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) with a powerful attack 4km from the finish line.
Faulkner’s win was so unexpected that she didn’t even celebrate until she had passed the press photographer’s pen. “I knew I’d won but, to be honest, it felt surreal. Even though I believed I could win a medal, crossing the line was overwhelming,” she said.
Her path to Olympic glory has been both rapid and arduous. A former rower, Faulkner was working in finance after graduating from Harvard and only started cycling in 2017. Just over three years ago, she left a stable job in New York to pursue a professional cycling career in 2021. Despite her quick rise, the Olympics on the road were not her primary target.
Faulkner narrowly missed automatic qualification for the road team by coming second to triathlete Taylor Knibb at the national championships in May. Her focus then shifted back to the Team Pursuit, for which she had been training for over a year. However, on 9th July, USA Cycling announced that Knibb had declined her spot in the road race due to a lack of bunch racing experience, opening the door for Faulkner to join the road race alongside Chloé Dygert.
Still unsure about competing in the road race, Faulkner considered dropping out to save herself for the track. “I almost didn’t race the road race because I had Team Pursuit in two days. We have a strong team and are capable of winning a medal there. I had to assess whether I could realistically win a medal in the road race,” she explained.
Her decision to race came after careful discussions with her coaches and USA Cycling. Faulkner’s training included race simulations followed by recovery days, which showed she could recover well and be ready for the track. She made an agreement to pull out of the road race if she was no longer in contention for a medal.
Faulkner’s form and race intelligence shone through. She avoided a crash involving teammate Dygert with 48km to go and positioned herself well within the lead group. When Vos broke away with Hungary’s Blanka Vas, Faulkner remained in the chasing group, keeping an eye on Kopecky. “I felt strong throughout the day. After the first time up the cobbled climb, I realised I was in great shape and decided to go for a medal,” she said.
In the final kilometres, Faulkner ensured Kopecky worked to close the gap to Vos and Vas, which they did with 4km to go. She attacked immediately, knowing she wouldn’t win a sprint against those three riders.
Next, Faulkner will join Dygert, Lily Williams, Olivia Cummins, and Tokyo Omnium gold medallist Jen Valente at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. Her focus now shifts to securing medals in the Team Pursuit. “I believe we can win another medal in Team Pursuit. I want to walk away with two medals,” she stated.
