HOMER, Alaska (KTUU) – Olympic cyclist Kristen Faulkner first learned how to balance on a bike in Homer.
“There is this little gravel road below our house, and I remember learning to ride a bike on that road, and there are a lot of potholes on it and I remember, bumpity, bump, bump, bump,” Faulkner recalled.
She left the Homer Spit as a teen, ultimately graduating from Harvard University in 2016 where she was a varsity rower.
But it wasn’t until 2018 while living in California when she fell back in love with the sport of cycling — and it wasn’t until 2021 when she stepped away from her career as a venture capitalist to become a full-time cyclist.
“I decided that if I didn’t pursue my Olympic dream at that point, I might never do it.” Faulkner said.
Faulkner quickly saw success on the road bike, claiming three Grand Tour Stage wins and winning the 2024 Professional Road National Championships.
However, it was in June when she was named to Team USA Cycling’s Track Pursuit Team, despite only competing in the discipline for less than a year.
“In track cycling, there is no gears and no brakes, and so you are in aerodynamic position on the track, you’re going about 36 miles per hour, and it is all about precision and technique,” she said. “To go from kind of a beginner level almost a year ago to making the Olympic team is really special, and sometimes it feels unbelievable.”
It wasn’t until earlier this week she learned she will be competing in two events at the Paris Olympics, as Faulkner was also named to Team USA’s Road Cycling team after one athlete resigned from the position.
“Road cycling is very different from that, you have a regular road bike with gears and brakes, it is a longer race, four hours,” she said. “There’s a lot of strategy that goes into road racing … they are very different events, even though they are on two wheels, that’s really where the similarities end.”
Currently training in Colorado before heading to Paris for the Summer Games, the hometown hero of Homer will carry the support of the state with her.
“I think Alaska has shaped my identity so much, just my love for the outdoors, my resilience, my independence, my appreciation for community, I think all of that stemmed from Alaska and when people ask me where I am from, I have a ton of pride saying I am from Alaska,” Faulkner said. “The small town community, I feel like it never leaves you. The community is always there to support you and back you and I really feel that.”
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Source link : https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/07/13/how-kristen-faulkner-pedaled-her-way-homer-paris-olympics-team-usa-cycling/?outputType=amp
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-12 22:50:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.