Cyclist Kristen Faulker is headed to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“I’m really excited. This is a dream come true for me. I’ve wanted this for a real long time,” Faulkner said.

Faulker grew up in Alaska and eventually made her way to New York City after college for a job in venture capital. Her career path was short-lived after a class in Manhattan got her hooked on cycling.

“I started racing in Central Park,” Faulkner said. “Yeah, it was my first time ever clipping into pedals. Yeah, I started doing some local New York City races, and then after that I started doing some regional races.”

She dropped her day job and took on cycling full-time in 2020.

“I started cycling in my mid-20s,” Faulkner said. “I kind of came in and I had a lot to catch up on.”

Part of that was the intense training. She rides around 50 miles a day.

“It’s a lot of short burst power efforts so, you really use a lot of your quads and your glutes and your lower body,” Faulkner said.

And it paid off as she won a slew of titles at races across the world, including Giro D’Italia and the Pan-American Games.

But she suffered a serious injury a year ago, hit by a car training in California. She had a blood clot in her lung and thought it would end her career. She took blood thinners and took off from cycling for four months.

“It was quite scary and to come back and to reach the Olympics is really special,” she said. “I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is just if you have a dream, keep going and don’t give up.”

Her resilience and drive will be front and center as she heads to the Olympic games.

“I want to bring home a gold metal. You know, I think we have a really strong team,” she said.