Gold Medal goes to Harvard-Radcliffe’s Kristen Faulkner ’16 for Olympic Road Cycling

PARIS, FRANCE –– Kristen Faulkner ’16 won the gold in the Women’s Cycling Road Race on Sunday, Aug. 4. The former Harvard-Radcliffe rower turned cyclist finished out the race with a spectacular comeback victory to earn first place.

This is the first women’s cycling medal for Team USA in 40 years since Connie Carpenter-Phinney did so in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Faulkner finished with a time of 3:59:23 which was 0:58 ahead of second place. She finished first out of 93 other Olympic cyclists, breaking away with three kilometers to go to take Gold on Sunday in Paris.

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 sat five seat in the 1V at the IRA National Championship where she helped the team earn a bronze. The Black and White also came in second place at Eastern Sprints earlier that year.

She took up cycling just four years ago, first starting to ride in Central Park, New York. Faulkner got a job in venture capital in California before deciding she wanted to be a professional cyclist. 

Faulkner initially entered the Olympics in just the track cycling events, but the USA team needed a replacement for Taylor Knibb who resigned her spot in the road race to focus on the time trial and triathlon events.

The Harvard-Radcliffe alumni is set to compete in the Team Pursuit competitions later this week. US Olympic Track Cycling will be streamed on Peacock. 

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

11:30 AM ET – Women’s Team Pursuit Qualifying

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

6:45 AM ET – Women’s Team Pursuit First Round

11:30 AM ET – Women’s Team Pursuit Finals