Who is cyclist Kristen Faulkner as she wins 2024 Olympics gold, bio, age, height, husband, medals and net worth

Have a look at the family, husband and net worth of Kristen Faulkner

American Kristen Faulkner has managed to win the Paris 2024 Olympics Women’s cycling road race event, marking USA’s first gold in the event in 40 years, find out more about her below.

Interestingly, Faulkner didn’t even know if she would be racing at the event four weeks ago, before Taylor Knibb’s withdrawal.

Who is cyclist Kristen Faulkner as she wins 2024 Olympics road race gold, bio, age, height, husband, medals list and net worth

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Faulkner has quickly made a name for herself over the past few years, mainly in solo efforts and time trials.

Kristen Faulkner wins gold in Women’s Cycling Road Race

Kristen Faulkner made history on Sunday, August 4, 2024, after winning the gold medal in Olympic Women’s Cycling road race. Faulkner clinched Team USA’s first medal in the event in over 40 years. The US last won a medal in the Olympic road race back in 1984. During that year, Alexi Grewal won a gold in the men’s event, while Connie Carpenter and Rebecca Twigg respectively took gold and silver in the women’s event.

Kristen Faulkner bio

Kristen Faulkner is an American racing cyclist, and Olympic Gold medallist who was born on December 18, 1992, in Homer, Alaska, United States. While growing up, Faulkner worked in her parents’ restaurant and hotel alongside her four siblings. She currently rides for UCI Women’s Continental Team EF–Oatly–Cannondale and she is the current USA National Road Race Champion. Faulkner recently won gold in the women’s cycling road race at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics.

She is unmarried and has a net worth of $500,000-1 million.

Age and height

Kristen Faulkner is currently 31 years old and stands at a height of 1.68 m

Education

Faulkner attended high school at the Phillips Academy in Massachusetts and graduated as an honors student. She then attended Harvard, where she studied computer science. During her time in college, Faulkner was a competitive rower, swimmer, as well as a runner. She won second place at the Junior World Rowing Championship back in 2010.

Cycling career and achievements

Before becoming a full-time professional athlete, Kristen Faulkner briefly worked as an investment associate at Threshold Ventures after graduation. Threshold Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, California. At present, Faulkner also works an investor besides being a full-time athlete. She works as an investor focussing on gender equality and supporting women in technology, entrepreneurship, and investing.

Despite knowing the basics of how to ride a bike, Faulkner fell in love with riding and considered it as a profession only after she attended a free introductory “learn to ride” class for women in New York City back in 2016. Faulkner the moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018, where she continued to hone her riding skills. She eventually began racing professionally for the now-defunct TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank women’s team in 2020.

Kristen Faulkner has since experienced an impressive rise in the sport, representing the U.S. at the following cycling World Championships:

Aside from international events, Kristen Faulkner has also dominated at the domestic level and she is the current U.S. National Road Race Champion. Faulkner was also the 2023 Pan American time trial champion, and lost out on the U.S. time trial title by just 11 seconds.

Kristen Faulkner Paris Olympic 2024 road race qualification

Kristen Faulkner began the season with a strong spring campaign winning the Omloop het Hageland and finishing sixth at Strade Bianche Donne.  She then won a silver time trial medal at the 2024 U.S. National Road Race Championships. Despite these achievements, Kristen was not originally set to represent the USA in the Paris 2024 Olympic road race.

USA Cycling earned two spots for the road race event meant to be filled by two riders who would compete in both the time trial as well as the road race. Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) secured the first slot after winning the 2023 world time trial champion. Meanwhile, triathlete Taylor Knibb won the second spot after winning the U.S. national time trial championships.

Knibb was already a part of the Olympic contingent in triathlon and was the first American athlete to qualify in two sports for the ongoing 2024 Summer Olympics. However, due to a full schedule of four Olympic events, Knibb decided to withdraw from the road race. As a result, Kristen Faulkner who was already a part of the US track team, stepped in to take her place.

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