The Paris 2024 Olympics witnessed yet another historic moment as American cyclist, Kristen Faulkner, became the first woman to win Olympic gold in cycling road race in 40 years.
On August 4, Faulkner, 31, brought back the gold medal to the US after 40 years, in a competition she got to participate in by chance. According to British news organisation BBC, Faulkner was a late addition at the Olympics, after a teammate resigned her spot in the road race.
“This is a dream come true. I’m still looking at the finish line sign wondering how my name got there,” she said in an interview with BBC.
Kristen Faulkner, a Harvard graduate, took up competitive cycling only in 2017. It was in 2021 that she quit her day job as a venture capitalist to pursue cycling full-time. And in a span of six years, she went on to not only compete in the Olympics, but also win the gold medal.
In an interview with American newspaper Wall Street Journal, she mentioned her decision to quit as a venture capitalist to commit to the sport full-time. She said, “I was like, ‘This will be a two-, three-year thing.”
In another interview with American news agency, Associated Press, she mentioned how her career as a venture capitalist helped her in the sport. She said, “I learned how to calculate risks and assess risks. In a race I take that mind-set with me: What is the risk-reward ration? Knowing when to go all in.”
The last time an Olympic gold was won by an American cyclist Connie Carpenter in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. According to the BBC, it was also the year the women’s road race was added to the Olympic programme.
It was reported that Faulkner was in disbelief and when responding to a question about her victory, she replied “I don’t know – you tell me what happened.”
Faulkner beat 2012 world champion Marianne Vos of Netherlands and Belgian world champion Lotte Kopecky, who received the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Kristen Faulkner and the USA team qualified to compete for the gold medal against team New Zealand, to be held on August 7.
