‘She’s set a standard’: Homer mayor — and lifelong friend — praises Kristen Faulkner’s Olympic gold ride

HOMER, Alaska (KTUU) - While the state of Alaska celebrates another Olympic medal win, the entire town of Homer is beaming with pride as one of their own finished atop the podium.

First-time Olympian Kristen Faulkner, 31, shocked the world Sunday when she claimed the gold medal in the women’s 98-mile road race.

The Homer cyclist put on a late surge to break away from the rest of the field to win the gold, beating the Netherland’s Marianne Vos and Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky by 58 seconds each in a time of 3 hours, 59 minutes, 23 seconds.

Homer Mayor Ken Castner said he has known Faulkner since she was a little girl participating in local ballet and dance.

“I think kids from Alaska have a little bit of advantage over other places because they come up with life skills that a lot of people don’t [have],” Castner said.

Faulkner’s parents, Jon and Sara, own the Land’s End Resort on the Homer Spit. While many kids in Homer grow up in the fishing industry, Kristen Faulkner was raised with an understanding of business, Castner said.

“She’s a very, very interested and self-determined and self-confident person, but basically, what I think the biggest lessons that kids in Alaska get is that they have a very firm sense of place,” Castner said. “They know how they fit in, and they know that nobody’s going to corner them into a pigeonhole, you know, as far as what they can and can’t do.”

Faulkner attended Harvard University after high school, excelling on the rowing team and eventually becoming a venture capitalist.

In 2020, she decided she didn’t want to give up on her Olympic dreams, so she dedicated herself to bike riding.

“We’re all so proud of her in what she’s done,” Castner said while wearing a Kristen Faulkner t-shirt — as he has for several weeks.

“A couple of the younger girls that are just graduating from high school and everything, I wrote them emails and I said, ‘So in the topic of excellence, you need to look up Kristen Faulkner,’ because she’s kind of set a standard that people can aspire to and, and know that, you know — there’s there’s no predictability as to as to what achievements a person can have.”

Castner said he plans on hosting a parade of bicycles in Faulkner’s honor.

“We’re so proud that somebody’s actually taken it to not the next level, but like four levels up,” he said. “It’s amazing to have a gold-medal-winning athlete come out of Homer. We have a lot of people who have gone on to succeed in a lot of different occupations, especially in the world of the internet and finance and stuff like that, they really have excelled, but to have an Olympic athlete is really, really something special, not only for Homer but for Alaska.”

Faulkner has an opportunity to take home more precious medals as she competes on the United States women’s pursuit team. The qualifying round is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. Alaska Time. The medal rounds are set to start Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.