Kristen Faulkner did something for Team USA at the Olympics that hadn’t been done since the 1984 Summer Games – win a gold medal in the women’s cycling road race event.
She did it in dramatic fashion on Sunday.
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With about 3.4 kilometers to go, Faulkner found herself behind Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos and Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky. She was just ahead of Hungary’s Blanka Vas. Faulkner was right behind Kopecky when she pulled out from the group and zoomed around them.
She then pulled away from the group and grabbed the gold medal by about a minute.
“It’s a dream come true,” she said. “It’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t know how to describe it.
“I knew that Kopecky wanted to catch the front two, so I knew she’d ride with me. I knew that if we caught them, then I had to attack because I couldn’t beat any of them at the line. The best place to attack was right after we caught them and everyone was tired. That was my chance, I practiced my late attack several times this year.”
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The last Americans to medal in the event came at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. It was the first time the women’s road race was taking place when Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Alexi Grewal won gold and silver.
Interestingly enough, Faulkner wasn’t even supposed to be in the event.
Taylor Knibb withdrew to focus on triathlon. Faulkner took the spot and came through for the win.
Faulkner won Omloop van het Hageland and won a stage at La Vuelta Femenina.
The focus is now on the National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Monday.
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