Kristen Faulkner
![]() Faulkner in 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Kristen Faulkner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "Faulks" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1992-12-18) December 18, 1992 (age 31)[1] 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[2][3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022–2023 | Team BikeExchange–Jayco | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2024– | EF–Oatly–Cannondale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One-day races and Classics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Kristen Faulkner (born December 18, 1992)[1] is an American racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's Continental Team EF–Oatly–Cannondale.[4][5] She is the reigning USA National Road Race Champion[6] and won two gold medals in the women's individual road race and women's track cycling team pursuit at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Faulkner is the first American woman, and third female Olympian, in history to win two gold medals in two different disciplines (in her case, road cycling and track cycling) in the same Olympic Games.[7]
Early life and education
Faulkner was born in Homer, Alaska to parents Sara and Jon Faulkner, owners and operators of a resort in the city. She grew up in the Alaskan fishing community along with four siblings, Katie, Andrew, William, and Nicholas.[8][9]
Kristen Faulkner graduated from Harvard[10] in 2016 with a B.A in computer science, where she competed in varsity rowing.[11] She holds the university's record for fastest 2k indoor rowing time for lightweight women. Before that, she attended Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, where she was an honor roll student and varsity runner, swimmer, and rower.
Career
Faulkner began competitive cycling in New York City in 2017 while she was working as an investment associate at Bessemer Venture Partners.[8] She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018 and joined Team Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank in 2020. During her first year cycling professionally, she 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.[12] In October 2023, it was announced that Faulkner would join the UCI Women's Continental Team EF–Oatly–Cannondale for the 2024 season.[13]
Faulkner had a strong start to the 2024 season with her new team. She won the Omloop van het Hageland and Stage 4 of La Vuelta Feminina. In May, she won the road race and finished second in the time trial at the United States National Road Race Championships. She was then selected to join Chloé Dygert in the road race and team pursuit at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[14][15]
Faulkner, despite being a replacement on the 2024 Olympic team, was the first American to win a road racing gold medal in 40 years when she took first place in the women's road race. Faulkner finished the 158-kilometer race 58 seconds ahead of the silver and bronze medalists, who ended the race in a photo finish.[16]
Faulkner also won the gold medal in women's team pursuit in track cycling alongside Chloé Dygert, Jennifer Valente, and Lily Williams. This was the first ever team track cycling gold medal in U.S. history. Faulkner became the first American woman and third female Olympian, after Leontien van Moorsel and Ester Ledecká, to win an Olympic gold medal in two different disciplines in the same Olympic Games.[17]
Major results
- 2020 (1 pro win)
- 1st Super Sweetwater, Grasshopper Adventure Series[18]
- 1st Stage 4 Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
- 2021 (1)
- 3rd Overall Tour of Norway
- 1st Stage 1
- 3rd GP de Plouay
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 10th Tour of Flanders
- 2022 (3)
- Giro Donne
- 1st
Mountains classification
- 1st Prologue & Stage 9
- 1st
- 2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
- 1st Stage 2 (ITT)
- 3rd Overall Itzulia Women
- 3rd Navarra Elite Classics
- 4th Emakumeen Nafarroako Klasikoa
- 2023 (1)
- 1st
Time trial, Pan American Games
- 2024 (7)
- Olympic Games
- 1st
Road race
- 1st
Team pursuit
- 1st
- National Championships
- 1st
Road race
- 2nd Time trial
- 1st
- 1st Omloop van het Hageland
- 1st Stage 4 La Vuelta Feminina
- 2nd Overall Trofeo Ponente in Rosa
- 1st
Points classification
- 1st
Mountains classification
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- 1st
- 6th Strade Bianche
References
- ^ a b Kassim, Ehsan (August 4, 2024). "Who is Kristen Faulkner? Cyclist ends 40-year drought for U.S. women at 2024 Paris Olympics". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 6, 2024. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
- ^ "Rider spotlight: Meet Kristen Faulkner". Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank. May 19, 2020. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ "TIBCO-SVB renew contracts with core virtual Tour de France team". Cyclingnews.com. August 27, 2020. Archived from the original on August 7, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ "EF Education - Cannondale". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "Kristen Faulkner". efprocycling.com. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- ^ "2024 US Professional Road Race Championship - Sunday". my.raceresult.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ https://www.teamusa.com/news/2024/august/07/team-usa-is-golden-in-women-s-team-pursuit-kristen-faulkner-becomes-first-u-s-woman-to-win-olympic-gold-in-two-different-disciplines . Retrieved 7 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Life Story". Kristen Faulkner. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- ^ Biz, Carson (July 31, 2020). "Meet the VC who raced this year's (virtual) Tour de France". Protocol. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ "Kristen Faulkner | Road Cyclist". USA Cycling. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
- ^ Sayers, Michael (March 27, 2020). "The Kristen Faulkner Interview". Interviews from the Gruppetto. Archived from the original on August 7, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Frattini, Kirsten (October 23, 2023). "Faulkner, Vargas win time trial titles at Pan American Games". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ Price, Matilda (October 10, 2023). "Kristen Faulkner signs for EF Education-Cannondale as American team's latest big-name transfer". Global Cycling Network. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Palermo, Angelina (July 9, 2024). "Taylor Knibb Resigns from Paris 2024 Olympic Road Race, Kristen Faulkner to Represent Team USA". USA Cycling. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
- ^ Palermo, Angelina (June 13, 2024). "USA Cycling Announces Olympic Games Paris 2024 Track Cycling Team". USA Cycling. Archived from the original on June 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
- ^ Pugmire, Jerome (August 4, 2024). "Kristen Faulkner wins Paris Olympics women's road race for US after making the team as a replacement". AP News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Skretta, Dave (August 7, 2024). "Finally golden: US women pursuit team wins Olympic gold after 12 years of silver and bronze medals". AP News. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
- ^ Delany, Ben (March 1, 2020). "Stetina, Faulkner win Super Sweetwater Grasshopper Adventure Series race". VeloNews. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official website
- Kristen Faulkner at ProCyclingStats
- v
- t
- e
- Megan Armitage
- Letizia Borghesi
- Kim Cadzow
- Clara Emond
- Veronica Ewers
- Kristen Faulkner
- Lotta Henttala
- Alison Jackson
- Nina Kessler
- Clara Koppenburg
- Coryn Labecki
- Natalie Quinn
- Noemi Rüegg
- Elizabeth Stannard
- Magdeleine Vallieres
- Manager: Esra Tromp