From Harvard to Wall Street to double Olympic Gold, Kristen Faulkner’s path has been anything but conventional. But one thing is a constant – her rigorous pursuit of excellence.

Before she became a cyclist, the double Olympic gold medalist and US road-race champion worked in finance in Manhattan. Kristen earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science at Harvard, where she competed on the university rowing team. She finished second in the world junior rowing championships, before moving to New York City to pursue her career with a venture capital firm.

She missed team sports, so she went to a women’s introductory cycling clinic in Central Park. She enjoyed that enough to do a race and once she experienced how much strategy and tactical thinking cycling required, she knew it was the sport for her.

The 31-year-old Alaskan has always dreamed big. Ever since she was a little girl, Kristen had wanted to compete in the Olympic Games.

Growing up in Alaska gave her a deep appreciation for the outdoors and sports. She spent her childhood exploring the woods near her home and now spends her off seasons hiking and exploring new places, most recently Peru. At her European base in Girona, Spain, Kristen likes to grocery shop at the local farmers markets, letting fresh produce inspire her in the kitchen. She loves creating healthy, vegetable-based dishes. A lifelong learner, she always has a couple of books on the go.

Her childhood helped her develop a sense of resiliency too. Kristen’s parents ran a restaurant and hotel in her hometown and she was always inspired by their work ethic.

That is what kept her going when she was not at first selected to represent the USA in the Olympic road race for the Paris Games. Kristen kept her medal dreams alive by focusing on the team pursuit on the track, a new discipline for her, which she had just taken up.

Although she had won five road races already this season, including a grand tour stage at the Vuelta España Femenina and the US national title, Kristen had no control over the Olympic selection criteria. She was first reserve for the road race. She kept training hard and never gave up hope.

When a spot in the team opened up, Kristen seized her chance. She sees bike racing as a game of chess, where strategy, patience, and anticipating a competitor’s move make the sport demanding and thrilling. On the streets of Paris, she rode a smart, tactical race, biding her time on the circuit up and around Montmartre, before making a big effort to close to the leaders with just over three kilometers to go. Knowing that her rivals at the front of the race might hesitate in the hope that the other would chase, Kristen attacked and rode solo to the finish under the Eiffel Tower to win her gold medal.

With hard work and intelligence, she had made her childhood dream come true. Kristen was a gold medalist at the Olympic Games. She celebrated with her family and then turned her attention back to the track and her pursuit of excellence.

A few days later, Kristen won her second Olympic gold medal with her teammates in the team pursuit.