Team USA Replacement Athlete Who Didn't Qualify for the Olympics Makes History with 2 Gold Medals — What Happened?

An athlete who served as a Team USA replacement made history at the Olympics. Despite not qualifying for the Games, she won 2 gold medals for her country, which has left the public in awe.

Taking the Paris 2024 Olympics by storm, Kristen Faulkner has garnered great success in both the Women's Road Race and the Women's Team Pursuit event. The cycling star was not initially featured on the original competition roster, but she scored a spot after professional triathlete Taylor Knibb resigned from the Road Race event.

On July 9, 2024, USA Cycling announced that there would be a change to the Paris 2024 Olympic Road Race roster. Originally, Knibb, who comes from Washington, D.C., was supposed to compete for Team USA in the Road Race alongside fellow cycling star Chloé Dygert, from Brownsburg, Indiana.

While Dygert qualified for both the Road Race and Time Trial after she won the 2023 UCI Time Trial World Championships, Knibb nabbed the last spot in those same events after winning the 2024 USA Cycling Time Trial National Championships.

However, the professional triathlete took herself out of the running for the Road Race to instead focus on competing in the Time Trial and Triathlon events.

Thus, Faulkner was then selected to compete in the Road Race in light of Knibb's decision. The 2024 USA Cycling Road Race National Champion, hailing from Homer, Alaska, is a cycling star in her own right, as she won three Grand Tour stages over the last two years.

Having skyrocketed to the top of the international ranks of women's road cycling, Faulkner was more than ready to compete. In addition to the Road Race, which took place on August 4, Faulkner and Dygert competed in the Women's Team Pursuit, with the qualifying rounds beginning on August 6.

Making her country proud and further establishing herself as a formidable cycling force, Faulkner took first place in the Women's Road Race, earning a gold medal. Silver went to Team Netherlands' Marianne Vos and Team Belgium's Lotte Kopecky walked away with the bronze.

When asked about how she bested her formidable opponents with her skillful tactics and maneuvers at the Trocadero, Faulkner quipped, "I don't know - you tell me what happened," before explaining what led to her victory.

"I knew I had to attack them as soon as we caught them [...] But I knew they didn't want to work together - they were three different countries. I knew if I got a small gap they would have to race for second," Faulkner revealed.

Speaking on how it felt to nab first place with a shiny gold medal in front of her parents, Faulkner gushed, "This is a dream come true. I'm still looking at that finish line sign wondering how my name got there."

Adding an extra layer of victory to Faulkner's achievements is the fact that she also helped Team USA win a gold medal for the Women's Team Pursuit on day 13 of the Paris Olympic Games. She scored the gold medal alongside her team members, Dygert, San Diego's Jennifer Valente, and Tallahassee's Lily Williams.

Before advancing to the gold medal round, Faulkner, Williams, Valente, and Dygert, beat Team Great Britain in a four-kilometer race. Team USA scored a time of 4:04.629, narrowly overtaking their competitors, whose time was 4:06.382, by 0.29 seconds.

Facing off against New Zealand in the gold medal round, Team USA came out victorious, yet again, with a time of 4:04.306, while Team New Zealand scored 4:04.927. According to USA Cycling, Team USA finished "just a fraction of a second off the World Record time."

Reflecting on the victory of earning her second gold medal of the week and how far she has come in her cycling track record, Faulkner gave credit to her team and their coach, Gary Sutton.

"I think it says a lot about the coaches we have and the team we have around us. I have learned a lot in the past year from my teammates. I don't think my improvement came from me; it came from the people around me," stated Faulkner.

Expressing pride and joy in his team, Coach Sutton boasted, "I was confident coming here tonight, especially after qualifying. They all played their role. I've been around long enough to know that you're only as good as your athletes. I'm very proud of each one of them."

Far from being new to winning, USA Cycling clarified that the Women's Team Pursuit squad has a rich history of being the reigning team. This victory marks their fourth consecutive Olympic Team Pursuit medal.

Since the Women's Team Pursuit event's debut in 2012, they have medaled each time. Giving credit to USA Cycling's significant strides and efforts, Dygert praised, "I think USA Cycling has put a lot of work and time into this event specifically."

Continuing, she added, "When I came into the program in 2016, this was the medal that USA Cycling had wanted more than any other. This has been the focus from the beginning of my career."

The event marks the second medal Dygert has earned during the Olympics, as she won a bronze medal in the Women's Time Trial.

Upon hearing of the success Team USA achieved for cycling at the Olympics, many flooded online platforms with praise, especially where Faulkner was concerned. "Two golds for Kristen Faulkner so awesome!" exclaimed a fan.

Another swooned, "Kristen Faulkner is truly golden." Echoing the sentiment, an admirer on Facebook expressed, "Kristen Faulkner is living the dream right now! Awesome job!" "Can't wait to see the movie," remarked someone on X. Similarly, a pleasantly surprised fan wrote, "This is wild. Someone start the feature script. FADE IN…"

Someone else chimed in with, "She took her one shot and gave it her all." "What an amazing Olympic journey!!" asserted another admirer.

Faulkner indeed has had an amazing journey to the Olympics, especially considering how she first started in cycling. It wasn't until she started looking for an outdoor hobby to do in 2017 that Faulkner took cycling seriously.

After moving to New York City for a venture capital job, she developed a passion for the sport in her spare time. "It was kind of my outlet every day to get into Central Park and ride for two hours away from the bustle of the city," Faulkner said.

Initially, Faulkner admitted that she experienced a bit of frustration with the sport due to problems with her bike. However, she realized that all she needed to remedy the situation was to replace her pedals and cleats, as they were incompatible.

It wasn't long until cycling developed into more than just a hobby and she began participating in the local racing scene. Her first professional race took place in 2020 when she won the event after four stages.

Eventually, she decided to quit her job to pursue the sport full-time as a professional rider in Europe. She went on to win in the 2021 Ladies Tour of Norway and scored gold in the 2023 Pan American Games.

Crediting her cycling success to being a fast learner, Faulkner stated, "I came with this really big physical engine from rowing and other sports that really helped me in cycling. I was also a very quick learner."