Breaking: Alaskan Kristen Faulkner adds second gold medal to her Paris collection

Homer, Alaska’s Kristen Faulkner, who worked hard for a few years before becoming an “overnight sensation” in women’s cycling, has won another gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

This time it was not the road track. That was Sunday’s gold medal. Today’s gold was in Faulkner’s signature event, the Team Pursuit, which is around a special track inside a velodrome.

Team USA won with a time of 4:04.306, to over New Zealand’s 4:04.927

Faulkner grew up in Homer, rowed for Harvard University, moved to New York City after college, worked in venture capital, took a class in cycling at Central Park, started competing in local tournaments before quitting her job to cycle full time.

She was added to the road race one month before the Olympics. Now, just seven years after that beginner’s class in New York City, she has won two gold medals.

She is only the second cyclist to win gold for both the road race event and team pursuit during the same Olympics since World War II.