Paris Olympics: Kristen Faulkner leads US women's cycling team to gold
Paris, France - A powerhouse American team led by road race gold medallist Kristen Faulkner blasted past New Zealand on Wednesday to win their first Olympic title in the women's team pursuit.
The quartet of Jennifer Valente, Lily Williams, Chloe Dygert, and Faulkner clocked 4min 04.306sec to narrowly miss the world record and consign New Zealand to silver.
It was a second gold of the Games for Faulkner, who outmatched Dutch veteran Marianne Vos and Belgium's pre-race favorite Lotte Kopecky to win the road race on Sunday.
"We knew we had a strong team coming in, and I feel like the lucky one because they (her teammates) have won medals before on the track and I haven't," said Faulkner.
"I just wanted to live up to their expectations."
Britain, without Katie Archibald who suffered a broken leg in a freak accident in June, won the bronze medal race against Italy.
The previously dominant British won gold at the London Games in 2012 when the event was first added to the Olympic program and defended their title in Rio.
They were edged into silver in Tokyo by world record holders Germany, however, who only finished sixth in Paris.
Cover photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP