Homer’s Kristen Faulkner makes Olympic cycling’s Pursuit Squad

On Thursday, six athletes were announced to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 Track Cycling Team, including Kristen Faulkner of Homer.

Faulkner, 31, is new to the Olympic Team Pursuit squad. A Harvard graduate, she only started professionally bike racing four years ago, unlike most internationally competitive cyclists who start much younger in life.

Faulkner is the 2024 Pro Road Race National Champion and is seen in the cycling world as one of the most dominant U.S. road racers to come along in many years, stunning the cycling world by securing three Grand Tour stage wins over the past two years.

USA Cycling invited her to the Colorado Springs Velodrome last year to evaluate her potential for the Team Pursuit program. She then raced at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide, gaining experience with the Team Pursuit squad.

Also racing for the U.S.A. is eight-time World Champion and Olympic Champion Jennifer Valente of San Diego, who will be riding for her third Olympic Games. The three-time Olympic medalist is set to compete in all three women’s track endurance events: Team Pursuit, Madison, and Omnium. Valente made history in Tokyo 2020, winning the country’s first Olympic Gold in the Women’s Omnium. A month later, she made history again by winning her first individual World Title in the Omnium.

The Women’s Madison was introduced to the Olympic programming in Tokyo 2020, and Valente will return to the event with partner Lily Williams of Tallahassee, Fla. Williams was part of the World Championship-winning Team Pursuit in 2020, and the Olympic Team Pursuit bronze medal team in Tokyo. She will return to the Team Pursuit squad and compete in the Madison a few days later.

Chloé Dygert of Brownsburg, Ind. returns for her third Olympic Games. She has qualified for the road events after winning the 2023 UCI Time Trial World Championships and has now been selected to represent the United States as a member of the Team Pursuit squad for her third consecutive Games.

Making her Olympic debut, Olivia Cummins of Fort Collins, Colo. was selected for a spot on the esteemed Team Pursuit squad. While attending Colorado Mesa University full-time, Cummins trained for a spot on the Olympic Track Cycling Team, while also competing in Collegiate National Championships and ticking off a win in the Pan American Championships Team Pursuit.

With only one men’s spot available, Grant Koontz of Nederland, Colo. was selected to compete in the Omnium. Koontz has had several standout performances on the track in 2024, including Pan American Championship titles in the Elimination, Madison, and Team Pursuit, a bronze in the Adelaide Nations Cup Elimination Race, and an eighth-place finish in the Milton Nations Cup Omnium.

Over the past two years, USA Cycling has been working to qualify teams for both men’s and women’s endurance and sprint events. For Paris 2024, the USA Cycling qualified riders in the Women’s Team Pursuit, Women’s Madison, Women’s Omnium, and Men’s Omnium.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games start July 26, 2024, with cycling competing every day of the Games. The track events begin Monday, August 5 and close out the Olympic Games on Sunday, August 11. For the full track programming, click here.