Kristen Faulkner (born December 18, 1992) is an American racing cyclist who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She is a two-time USA National Road Race Champion 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 was the first American woman, and third female Olympian, in history to win two gold medals in two different disciplines in the same Olympic Games.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.
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.
Faulker attended Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, where she was a varsity runner, swimmer, and rower. She graduated from Harvard University in 2016 with a B.A in computer science, where she competed in varsity rowing. She holds the university's record for fastest 2k indoor rowing time for lightweight women.
Career 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 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. In October 2023, it was announced that Faulkner would join the UCI Women's Continental Team for the 2024 season.
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.
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.
Faulkner also won the gold medal in women's team pursuit in track cycling alongside Chloé Dygert, Jennifer Valente, and Lily Williams. It was the first 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.
Major results
2020 (1 pro win) 1st Super Sweetwater, Grasshopper Adventure Series 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 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 National Championships 1st Road race 2nd Time trial 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 6th Strade Bianche 2025 (1) National Championships 1st Road race 2nd Time trial 2026 (1) 1st Time trial, Pan American Road Championships
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