USA Cycling doubted Kristin Faulkner’s Olympic gold chances
The national federation said she had a 6 per cent shot at a medal… and boy, were they wrong
Kristin Faulkner had an amazing Olympic Gold at the 2024 Paris Games, bridging over to a leading duo with world champion Lotte Kopecky late in the race and then immediately attacking while the others couldn’t follow. It was the first American gold in the women’s road race since Connie Carpenter in Los Angeles 1984.
Except her own federation, USA Cycling, didn’t think she stood a chance. In a recent interview with Geraint Thomas on Watts Occurring, she said USA Cycling grilled her on her strategy. They told her they ran simulations, and she would only have a 6 per cent chance of a medal.
An Olympics full of favourites
Lotte Kopecky, the leader of the Women’s WorldTour, aimed for gold in Paris but faced stiff competition from Dutch riders Marianne Vos and Lorena Wiebes, while Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini, with previous Olympic bronze medals, sought to improve on her past results. Australian Grace Brown hoped to claim both Paris 2024 road titles, and Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer, the surprise Tokyo winner, was unlikely to repeat her solo success.
In the race’s second lap, a breakaway group led by Vos and Kopecky, including several Britons, built a 38-second lead over a larger chase group. Mavi Garcia’s aggressive attack on Côte de la Butte Montmartre caused two Britons to drop off, but Lizzie Deignan responded with an acceleration that led to Vos and Blanka Vas dropping Deignan. By the third lap, Vos and Vas held a 20-second gap, but Kopecky and the American bridged the gap. Faulkner then surged ahead, securing the victory by 58 seconds, while Vos claimed silver and Kopecky earned bronze in a photo finish.
Olympic gold, Planned to perfection
As the 32-year-old EF-Oatly-Cannondale rider explained, the race went exactly as she hoped.
She planned on drilling it on the Montmartre climb and creating a small group, from which she would ultimately solo. But it seems even as she explained this to USA Cycling, they didn’t think it would go that way and preferred her to focus on the team pursuit.
In fact, she was only considered for the road race after triathlete Taylor Knibb gave up her spot. USA Cycling secured two spots for the women’s road race at the Games: Chloé Dygert qualified by winning the 2023 UCI time trial world championships, and Knibb earned the second spot by winning the 2024 USA Cycling time trial national championships. However, Knibb withdrew from the road race on July 10 to focus on the time trial and her triathlon career.
In the end, Faulkner took a beautiful win and has the last laugh.
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