Kristen Faulkner will begin her dual discipline duties for Team USA at the Paris Olympics on August 4 in the women’s road race, followed by Team Pursuit rounds on the track on August 6-7. Although she was a world-class rower who transitioned to professional cycling in the past five years, track cycling proved to be the magnet for her first Olympic appearance and satisfying a need for “excitement” and competition in a true team environment.

Although Faulkner won her first U.S. Pro Road Race National Championship this year, it didn’t provide automatic Olympic qualification like the time trial. She went into the ITT as the reigning Pan American champion, but finished second to Taylor Knibb at Nationals. So the day after winning the road race, she flew to Belgium to attend a final U.S. track and field selection camp in Zolder, where one final piece of the Paris puzzle fell into place.