American cyclist Kristen Faulkner is asking the same question many in the cycling world was left asking after she won two gold medals, in two different disciplines, at the 2024 Paris Games.
“Wow, how did this happen? How did I get here in the last, you know, four days?” quipped Faulkner to NBCOlympics.com when asked what she thinks of when she hears two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Faulkner first shocked the cycling world when she won the women’s road race over favorites like Lotte Kopecky and Marianne Vos. She then helped the women’s team pursuit claim gold a few days later with teammates Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams.
It all feels like a dream to Faulkner who was in the middle of her media tour on Thursday.
“It’s been a whirlwind in way more than I anticipated from this Olympics. Sometimes it doesn’t feel real. I think I wake up every morning and still feel like I’m dreaming.”
The 31-year-old is a relatively newcomer to the sport, after quitting her full-time venture capitalist job in 2021 to train fulltime. As the only newcomer to the women’s pursuit team from Tokyo, she knew she had to meet the standards of her teammates.
“I needed, in a very short amount of time, to level up to where they were. They’re all incredibly strong, incredibly experienced. I didn’t want to be the reason we didn’t get a gold medal. I felt that they were all gold medal capable. There was definitely pressure on me to not be the thing getting in the way of the team in a gold medal.”
SEE MORE: Faulkner, Dygert lead U.S. women’s team pursuit to gold over New Zealand
That worry almost came to fruition when it looked like she might not have enough to win the race. In the final 500m of the race, she dropped off the back of her teammates, before they regrouped and maintained the lead. However, Faulkner says the drop was actually a good thing.
“I was just like, catch her wheel, like, it doesn’t matter. You just have to, everything you have, every single thing you have, this is your last race of the Olympics. You have to leave nothing on the line.”
Faulkner explained why she was struggling to keep up and the nuance to team pursuit.
“The first part of the race had been tough for me because I did two laps in my first rotation, and I was on Chloe’s wheel when she was accelerating, so I had a pretty hard first half of the race.”
“I knew that it would make the second half extra hard for me, but I also knew that we, we had to push our limits and when you’re dropping back, you’re on your limit. I think it’s actually a great thing when you finish a race knowing that you were on your limit because it means you could have given nothing more.”
Pushing herself to that limit is something Faulkner enjoys.
“I just love to see what I’m capable of, to be honest. I’m curious about what’s possible. I’m curious about what’s capable, what I’m capable of.”
She revealed that reaching that extra gear isn’t about proving she’s good enough to anyone, even herself, but rather it’s the lesson she takes away.
“I just wanted to see what’s possible and what I’m capable of, because I think every time I realize I’m capable of something more, my dreams just become a bit bigger, my confidence becomes higher, and [Wednesday] I really, really wanted to leave with two gold medals.”
SEE MORE: Americans win gold in women’s team pursuit over New Zealand
Road race shocker
Wednesday was the first time Faulkner emerged from the competition bubble after shocking the world in the women’s road race, so it was the first opportunity to hear her unique perspective. The biggest takeaway — she’s not surprised she medaled, if she didn’t think it was possible, she wouldn’t have been in the race.
The 31-year-old embraces the “go big or go home” mentality that so many people joke about, but for her she meant it.
“I knew going into the road race that I had to race it as if I was going to win and earn a medal.”
She followed up, “I think going in there with those expectations of I’m either going to do this, I’m going to do this and get a medal, or I’m not going to do it at all. I think, less to do with being a last-minute addition and more to do with the fact that I had team pursuit two days later.”
Faulkner only officially had a little less than a month to prepare for the road race, even though she knew it was likely Taylor Knibb would withdraw to focus on the triathlon.
When asked if the last-minute nature impacted her success, in a positive manner by not being able to overtrain or if it created a ‘why not’ attitude, she responded:
“I did, you know, review it knowing that that was a high possibility. I think what did matter though was I, because I had team pursuit two days later, for me, I said, I’m only going to do the road race if I really believe I had a chance at a medal, otherwise it’s a waste of energy, I wouldn’t bring [the women’s team pursuit] a medal, I would just get tired.”
Faulkner quickly realized that last Sunday might have been her day. She revealed the moment when she realized she was capable of winning the race. “I think when the race started, I definitely had medal ambitions. I knew that it was not likely, but that it was possible.”
“As soon as we went up the cobble climb that first time on the circuit, I was like, wow, I have the best legs today. If I can play this smart, I can win this race, so I think at that point I had confidence.”
SEE MORE: U.S. cyclist Kristen Faulkner wins shocking gold medal in women’s road race
It’d take until nearly the very end of the race when the riders were passing back over the River Seine, but Faulkner launched her winning attack to everyone’s shock and easily rode to the finish line in front of the Eiffel Tower to claim gold.
Right before she made her big move, Faulkner knew three things. The first — Kopecky was not closing the gap, indicating she was tapped. Second — the front two riders (Vos and Hungary’s Blanka Vas) had been in front for a long time and likely had tired legs. Third — attacking at the end of a race is Faulkner’s specialty.
After Faulkner left the three riders behind and no one chased her, the trio was caught on camera with bewildered looks as they turned to each other stunned. After the race, Kopecky called the three veterans “stupid” for not expecting the Olympic rookie to make the move.
“I knew all of those factors were coming into play. I knew that as soon as I caught up to those front two, I had to attack. That was the only way I was going to win. I wasn’t going to beat them on the line. When I was chasing back with Kopecky, I felt quite confident that if I, If I executed that move well, that I would win the race.”
While the win may have shocked many who consider Faulkner new to the scene, she is quick to defend her rise to the top. She acknowledges that it does feel like it’s happened really fast, but that she also has been on a trajectory for a big win with wins in major races since 2022.
“I knew something, I knew I was knocking on the door of a big win, but I didn’t realize that big win would happen at the Olympics.”
Not once, but twice.
“I think a lot of things just came together. I think my form was really good and that showed in both events. I think the training for team pursuit also really helped me in the road race because it was a punchy course… I think the two played off of each other really, and so the likelihood of me getting a medal in one race actually increased my chances of getting a medal in the other race.”
SEE MORE: Who is U.S. cyclist Kristen Faulkner, the winner of the women’s road race?
What’s next?
When Faulkner won the gold in the women’s road race, everyone was fascinated by the venture-capitalist-turned-pro-cyclist. She had quit her job in 2021 to focus on training full time, a move that was a calculated risk that took guts. When asked what gave her the confidence and any if she had any advice who might want to make a similar move —in sports or in life — she gave a good approach.
‘I knew that I didn’t have all the answers, but I was very confident that I could find the answers and that I could figure it out. I think that came from 25 years of my life of doing things as a beginner, not knowing how to do it, not knowing all the answers.”
She pointed out she’s always tried new things, whether that was sports (she did crew in college), give a speech, or computer science at Harvard. It’s that satisfaction in trying new things and figuring it out that led to her leap of faith.
“I think having put myself in so many situations in my life where I was like, I don’t yet know the answers. I don’t yet know how to figure this out. I don’t yet know the solution. I don’t yet know the next steps, but I have confidence that with hard work, curiosity, humility, taking feedback that I’ll get to where I need to go.”
So, when she left her job, she knew she’d either figure it out or at least have answers in a year and wouldn’t be left wondering ‘what if’.
While she downplays the risk it was to make the dramatic career change, she did add she had been preparing for that moment her whole life.
“The best way to prepare for a big decision like that is to make micro decisions your entire life for 25 years and do that over and over.”
“You can build the confidence that, I don’t have the answers now, but I believe that I have the kind of the problem-solving skills to figure out whatever life throws at me.”
She believes it’s something you must do and can’t be told or taught and with each time you can up the risk just a little bit more.
“You can’t just tell someone they have to experience it in their life over and over and over and each time they do something a little harder, a little harder, a little harder, they’re going to build that muscle more and more and more.”
So, while for some her move into the sport seems like a big decision only made a few years ago, for Faulkner it was a lifetime of small choices and confidence building that led her to being the two-time Olympic champion in Paris.
She’s not done yet. She revealed she’s already thinking about L.A. (the 2028 Games). In addition to competing in the women’s team pursuit and road race again, she’d love to add a third race in the road time trial.
In the meantime, there’s no rest for the weary. The women’s Tour de France starts next week, which she will compete in.
Winning in Paris won’t change her approach for the short or long term: “It’s just taking it one step at a time and keeping the bigger visions in the back of my mind, but really focusing on the baby steps in the day-to-day in the process to get there.”
SEE MORE: Kristen Faulkner talks about achieving her Olympic dreams
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