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Kristen T. Faulkner ’16 won gold in the women’s road race at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday, shocking the world of cycling as the 31-year-old American raced past the medal favorites in a competition she was not supposed to participate in — much less win.

Faulkner, making her first-ever appearance at the Olympics, pulled away late from the three other cyclists in medal contention to breeze to a gold medal. The Alaska native was in a chasing group with Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky for most of the race’s final stages but an acceleration ahead of the final kilometer left Faulkner all alone as she crossed the Seine to reach the finish line.

Faulkner’s victory earned the U.S. its first gold medal in the event in 40 years, and became the first-ever Harvard alumnus to win a medal in road cycling.

The medal also brings Harvard’s overall tally this Olympics to eight — the second-highest medal count in school history behind only the 1896 Games, where Harvard alumni won 12 medals.

Marianne Vos from the Netherlands, who won gold in the event in 2012, finished second with Kopecky of Belgium behind her. Both women finished nearly in line with the fourth place finisher Kata Blanka Vas of Hungary.

The extraordinary circumstances behind Faulkner’s participation in the event only added to the drama behind her stunning upset.

She was initially not supposed to race in the event and scheduled only to compete in cycling’s team pursuit race later this week. But Faulkner earned a spot in the competition after fellow American cyclist Taylor Knibb pulled out to focus on the triathlon.

At Harvard, Faulkner was a student-athlete — just not in cycling. She participated on the lightweight rowing team and only began cycling after graduation, when she decided to pick it up as a hobby in New York’s Central Park.

Faulkner enjoyed the sport so much that she eventually decided to quit her full-time venture capital job in 2021 to train professionally.

Faulkner said in an interview before the Olympics that the discipline she learned as a Harvard rower — especially the early morning practices and dealing with the weight of expectations — helped her when she began training in cycling while working in New York.

“The pressure to perform, it’s something I think a lot of Harvard kids know how to manage quite well,” Faulkner said. “And at this level of elite sport, there’s a lot of pressure to perform.”

When Faulkner eventually left her job, it was to pursue her dream of getting to the Olympics that began when she was a child watching the Sydney Games.

“I think for me, this was like the culmination of my biggest life dream I’ve ever had,” she said.

Faulkner spoke about the risk she took in leaving her “dream” job to try to get to the Olympics — saying there were people “who were really questioning my decision.”

Faulkner said making the Olympic team made “the sacrifice and the risk all worth it.”

“To have it all worked out, I think just reinforces that it’s important to take risks when you believe in something and you’re passionate about something,” she said.

Now, she’s a gold medalist — and Faulkner’s Olympics dream is still not over. After she finishes celebrating, Faulkner will turn her attention to the track track cycling team pursuit event on Aug. 6.

—Staff writer Jo B. Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Jo_Lemann.