Kristen Faulkner wins Paris Olympics women's road race for US after making the team as a replacement

PARIS (AP) — With the Eiffel Tower behind her and the sun shining at the Paris Olympics, Kristen Faulkner stood atop the podium with her hand on her heart as the American national anthem played.

Briefly, she closed her eyes as the enormity of her win in the women's road race started sinking in.

Faulkner, a former rower at Harvard who only made the Olympic team as a replacement, became the first American rider in 40 years to win a medal in the event.

She timed her attack to perfection against vastly more experienced riders. Among them was Dutch rider Marianne Vos, merely one of the greatest female cyclists of all time.

“It’s a dream come true,” Faulkner said. “It’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t know how to describe it.”

The 158-kilometer (98-mile) route started and finished in Paris, with Faulkner crossing the line at the Trocadéro in a fraction under four hours.

Faulkner finished 58 seconds clear of Vos, Lotte Kopecky of Belgium and Blanka Vas of Hungary, who were separated by a photo finish with Vos taking silver and Kopecky clinching the bronze.

Faulkner and Kopecky caught up Vos and Vas with about three kilometers left. As Faulkner attacked, the other three hesitated and then could not catch her.

She only had the Eiffel Tower and glory ahead of her.

The 31-year-old Alaska native is the first American to win a road race medal of any color since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, when Connie Carpenter and Alexi Grewal swept the gold medals.

Faulkner took a winding route to professional cycling.

She was a varsity rower for Harvard, then went into investment banking after her graduation in 2016. She began riding for fun on the streets of New York City, and during her first year as a pro she continued to work full-time for a Silicon Valley firm.

“I took a really big risk a few years ago to come to pursue my dream,” she said. “I made it happen.”

Faulkner only learned how to clip in pedals in 2017.

“It has been a fast trajectory," she explained. “Even for the people closest to me it’s been a whirlwind.”

Her approach to cycling was forged from working as a venture capitalist.

"I learned how to calculate risks and assess risks,” she said. “In a race I take that mind set with me: What is the risk-reward ratio? Knowing when to go all in.”

Faulkner won the U.S. road race title in May, but had not qualified for the Olympic road race because Chloe Dygert and American time trial champion Taylor Knibb earned the two automatic selections. It wasn’t until Knibb withdrew last month to focus on the Olympic triathlon that Faulkner was added as a replacement.

Now she’s aiming for a second medal — in team pursuit, which begins Tuesday with qualifying.

“I said I’d only do the road race if I felt strong and felt I had a chance of a medal,” Faulkner said. “I knew that it would be a really tough race but if I was racing, I was racing to win. That was a promise I made to my team pursuit teammates.”

Huge crowds cheered the riders rolled through Paris’ Latin Quarter and then along past the Orsay museum — once a train station.

The trek concluded with three climbs up to Montmartre, the area of Paris known for its cobblestoned passageways, its quaint artistic atmosphere and, most visibly, the white Sacré Coeur basilica perched imperiously atop Montmartre hill as if watching over Parisians.

Afghan sisters Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi were briefly part of an early breakaway, but they were soon caught. Slovakian Nora Jencusova then broke away on her own before being joined by the Hashimis and two other riders.

After entering Paris, riders zoomed past crowds flocking around the Louvre museum — home to the Mona Lisa — and the breakaway was swallowed up by the peloton.

As riders tackled the emblematic 1-kilometer climb up Butte-Montmartre for the first time, a new group formed at the front — Vos, Italian Elisa Longo Borghini and Faulkner. Kopecky chased hard on her own and caught up the lead group with about 40 kilometers left.

Defending champion Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria, who won the race in Tokyo because everyone else forgot she was in front, finished nearly eight minutes back in 52nd spot.

With 20 kilometers left, Vos and Bas attacked. They didn’t open up enough of a gap and Faulkner waited patiently.

“I knew that Kopecky wanted to catch the front two, so I knew she’d ride with me. I knew that if we caught them, then I had to attack because I couldn’t beat any of them at the line," Faulkner said. "The best place to attack was right after we caught them and everyone was tired. That was my chance, I practiced my late attack several times this year."

Faulkner ended America’s long wait for a road race medal dating back to the Los Angeles Games.

She can now defend her medal there in 2028.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, winner of the gold medal of the women's road cycling event, attends the podium ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, poses with the gold medal of the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Athletes compete at the start of the women's road cycling event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (Huang Zongzhi/Pool Photo via AP)

Cyclists ride past the Moulin Rouge cabaret venue, during the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Fariba Hashimi, of Afghanistan, left, and her sister Yulduz Hashimi, pose prior to the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Silver medallist Marianne Vos, of the Netherlands, left, sprints ahead of Lotte Kopecky, of Belgium, centre, who clinched the bronze medal and Blanka Vas, of Hungary, during the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Blanka Vas, of Hungary, looks back at Marianne Vos, of the Netherlands, during the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, left, Blanka Vas, of Hungary, during the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, crosses the finish line to win the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, celebrates winning the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Kristen Faulkner, of the United States, celebrates winning the women's road cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

NEW YORK (AP) — He had some help: Morgan Wallen tops the 2024 Country Music Association award nominations with seven.

For a third year in a row, Wallen is up for both the top prize — entertainer of the year — and the male vocalist categories.

Rounding out the entertainer of the year categories are Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson.

Post Malone's massive radio hit, “I Had Some Help,” which features Wallen, is the main reason why the country singer leads the pack this year. It is up for single, song, musical event and music video of the year. His last nomination is a second one in the musical event category, for his collaboration with Eric Church, “Man Made a Bar.”

Single of the year is awarded to the artist, producer and mix engineers; song of the year is given to the songwriters.

Ahead of the nominations announcement, some fans speculated that Beyoncé, whose landmark country-and-then-some reclamation “Cowboy Carter” was released during the eligibility window, could receive a nomination at the 2024 CMAs. It did not.

Earlier this year, the album hit No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to top the chart since its 1964 inception.

The album was five years in the making, a direct result of what Beyoncé has called “an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t,” most likely a reference to a 2016 CMAs performance that resulted in racist backlash.

The CMA Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes music executives, artists, publicists, songwriters and other industry professionals.

Wallen is followed by both Cody Johnson, who is also nominated in the male vocalist category for the third year in a row, and 7-time male vocalist of the year winner, Stapleton.

Stapleton and Johnson have five nominations each.

But Stapleton could take home seven trophies, should he sweep his categories.

Stapleton is both an artist and producer on “White Horse,” up for single of the year, and “Higher,” up for album of the year.

At the Country Music Awards, production credits are not counted as separate nominations, although they are factored into trophy counts.

First-time nominee Post Malone and Wilson, last year's entertainer of the year winner, are tied with four nominations. All of Malone's nominations are for “I Had Some Help.”

Louis Bell, Charlie Handsome and Hoskins are tied with three nominations for their work as producers and co-writers on “I Had Some Help.”

Jelly Roll, Combs, Kacey Musgraves and Megan Moroney also boast three nods each. The latter three could take home four trophies: Combs is both artist and producer on “Fathers & Sons,” up for album of the year. The same is true for Musgraves' album “Deeper Well.”

And Moroney is both artist and director of her nominated music video, “I'm Not Pretty.”

The 2024 CMA Awards will air on Nov. 20 on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern. It can be streamed the next day on Hulu.

FILE - Morgan Wallen performs during the 56th annual CMA Awards in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - Morgan Wallen appears at the 56th annual CMA Awards, Nov. 9, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)