Eight years ago she didn't know how to clip into a bike — now she's an Olympic cyclist
U.S. Olympian Kristen Faulkner didn’t seriously start riding a bike until 2016 when she needed an outdoor hobby. Shortly after she moved to New York City for a venture capital job, she developed a passion for cycling in her spare time.
“It was kind of my outlet every day to get into Central Park and ride for two hours away from the bustle of the city,” Faulkner told NBC News.
But it didn’t come without some initial growing pains.
“I couldn’t clip in” to the bike, she said. “And I was like, 'Why is this not working?' I was starting to get really embarrassed. Finally, we realized I just had incompatible cleats and pedals.”
Kristen Faulkner crosses the finish line during the first Tour de France Femmes in Épernay, France, in July 2022. Tim de Waele / Getty Images file
Soon her passion for cycling evolved into more than just a hobby as she gradually worked her way through the local racing scene to her first professional race in 2020. After just four stages in that event, she won.
Buoyed by her success, Faulkner quit her job to race competitively as a pro in Europe. Some of her highlights included winning a stage in the 2021 Ladies Tour of Norway and winning gold in the 2023 Pan American Games.
Faulkner, 31, attributes her quick success to a willingness to pick up information fast.
“I came with this really big physical engine from rowing and other sports that really helped me in cycling,” she said. “I was also a very quick learner.”
Now, Faulkner is firmly focused on the Olympics. Growing up in a small town in Alaska, she didn’t start dreaming of international glory until she witnessed the 2000 Sydney Games.
“I was watching the Sydney Olympics on TV, and I thought it was an amazing thing to see,” she told the Global Cycling Network. “At that moment, it became my life goal to go to the Olympics.”
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With the Paris Games just weeks away, Faulkner hopes to achieve more than just winning medals.
“I want to win a medal at the Olympics,” she told Olympics.com. “I want to win a world championship in the time trial. And I would like to win a stage at the Tour de France. I have some big goals, don’t I?”
Big goals aside, Faulkner understands her determination has been instrumental to where she is today.
“I would honestly use the word ‘resilience,’” she said. “I’ve had a concussion. I’ve been hit by a car. And every time I’ve never lost my passion to keep going. It’s never a matter of if I’ll keep going. It’s just a matter of how.”
Greg Hyatt is a 2024 NBC News campaign embed.