America’s Kristen Faulkner persevered through the chaos of Montmartre’s rocky streets to win gold in the women’s Olympic road race. Today we will discuss about Kristen Faulkner: Olympics| Cycling| Life story| Biography.
Kristen Faulkner: Olympics| Cycling| Life story| Biography
Kristen Faulkner (born December 18, 1992) is an American racing cyclist, who currently cycles for UCI Women’s Continental team EF–Otley–Cannondale. She is the current USA National Road Race Champion, and won the gold medal in the women’s cycling road race at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Kristen Faulkner |
| Nickname | “Faulks” |
| Born | December 18, 1992 Homer, Alaska, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | EF–Oatly–Cannondale |
| Discipline | Road and Track |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Time-trialist (Road) Team pursuit (Track) |
| Amateur teams | |
| 2017–2018 | Century Road Club Association Dave Jordan Racing |
| 2019 | JLVelo |
| 2019 | Revolution Racing p/b Jakroo |
| Professional teams | |
| 2020–2021 | Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank[1][2] |
| 2022–2023 | Team BikeExchange–Jayco |
| 2024– | EF–Oatly–Cannondale |
Olympics
American cyclist Kristen Faulkner stunned the cycling world on Sunday by winning the women’s road race – an event she shouldn’t even have competed in – with a time of 3:49:23, 58 seconds ahead of her rivals.
The last time an American woman won the race was in 1984 when Connie Carpenter-Finney won the race for the first time in the Olympics.
Originally, the 31-year-old Faulkner was scheduled to compete only in track cycling’s team pursuit event in her Olympic debut. But when teammate Taylor Knibb resigned from the road race to focus on her triathlon events, a door opened for Faulkner. There was less than a month left for the 2024 Paris Games to begin.
Faulkner is a relative newcomer to the sport – he only started cycling in 2017. At the time, she lived in New York City and wanted an outdoor activity to balance her full-time job and tried a free class in Central Park.
Cycling
Underdog is an understatement for American cyclist Kristen Faulkner, who didn’t even qualify for the Olympics but is now going home with a gold medal after a shocking race through Paris on Sunday.
It was in the last 3 kilometers of the race that Faulkner managed to break away from the pack and in a great display of spirit took the lead. She crossed the finish line 58 seconds before the silver and bronze winners finished the race.
She is the first American woman to win gold in the women’s road race since 1984.
While Faulkner’s effort was incredible in itself, it’s the story she took with her that made the win so exciting.
Faulkner, 31, was not scheduled to compete at the 2024 Paris Games, but was called up to Team USA in early July after Taylor Knibb gave up her spot. It was an exciting moment for a woman who started bicycling as a hobby in New York City’s Central Park in 2017.
Life story
Former Harvard-Radcliffe lightweight rowing athlete Kristen Faulkner ’16 was named to the United States Track Cycling Team that will compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The Harvard-Radcliffe alumnus, unlike other Olympic cyclists who have competed, began professional cycling only four years ago.
The Alaska native was a Harvard-Radcliffe varsity rower for two years (2015–2016). In 2016, Faulkner was part of the first varsity boat for the entire season. She placed five in the 1V at the IRA National Championships, where she helped the team to a bronze medal. The Black and White also came second at the Eastern Sprints earlier that year.
Faulkner began his journey with cycling in 2016, and began racing for Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank in 2020. Faulkner is the 2024 Pro Road Race national champion and has already won three Grand Tour stages in the last two years. She has won the Giro d’Italia Women, the Tour de Suisse and the Pan-American Games, while posting top 10 GC results in the Italien Women’s, Women’s Tour, the Tour de Suisse and the Ladies Tour of Norway.
Biography
Faulkner was born in Homer, Alaska. She grew up in an Alaskan fishing community with four siblings, Katie, Andrew, William, and Nicholas.
Kristen Faulkner received her BA in Computer Science from Harvard in 2016. He graduated from Harvard University, where he competed in varsity rowing. She holds the university record for the fastest 2 km indoor rowing time for lightweight women. Previously, she attended Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, where she was an honor roll student and varsity runner, swimmer, and sailor.
Faulkner began competitive cycling in New York City in 2017, while she was working as an investment associate at Bessemer Venture Partners. She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018 and joined Team TIBCO–Silicon Valley in 2020. Joined the bank. During his first year of cycling professionally, he worked full-time as an investment associate at Threshold Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. , She won the women’s road time trial at the 2023 Pan American Games. In October 2023, it was announced that Faulkner would join UCI Women’s Continental team EF–Otley–Cannondale for the 2024 season.
