Eight years ago she didn’t know how to ride a bike – now she’s an Olympic cyclist

American Olympian Kristen Faulkner only started cycling seriously in 2016, when she needed an outdoor hobby. Shortly after moving to New York to work in venture capital, she developed a passion for cycling in her spare time.

“It was kind of an outlet every day to go into Central Park and bike for two hours away from the hustle and bustle of the city,” Faulkner told NBC News.

But that didn’t happen without some initial growing pains.

“I couldn’t fit it” on the bike, she said. “And I thought, ‘Why isn’t this working?’ I was starting to feel really embarrassed. Finally, we realized I just had incompatible cleats and pedals.”

Soon her passion for cycling evolved into more than just a hobby, as she gradually worked her way up the local racing scene until 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 professional in Europe. Some of her highlights included winning a stage at the 2021 Ladies Tour of Norway and winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games.

Faulkner, 31, attributes his rapid success to his willingness to get information quickly.

“I came with a great physical engine from rowing and other sports that really helped me in cycling,” she said. “I also learned very quickly.”

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 Olympics.

“I was watching the Sydney Olympics on TV and thought it was an amazing thing to see,” she told the Global Cycling Network. “At that point, my life goal became going to the Olympics.”

With the Paris Games just weeks away, Faulkner is hoping to achieve more than just win 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 of the Tour de France. I have some big goals, don’t I?

Big goals aside, Faulkner understands that her determination was instrumental in where she is today.

“I would honestly use the word ‘resilience,’” she said. “I had a concussion. I was hit by a car. And every time I never lost the passion to continue. It’s never a question of continuing. It’s just a question of how.”