‘She had to come from someplace, and it’s our place’: Homer mayor beams after Faulkner’s 2nd gold medal

HOMER, Alaska (KTUU) - It’s been a golden week for the city at the end of the road, as Homer-raised cyclist Kristen Faulkner secured an unprecedented second gold medal at her Olympic Games debut in Paris.

On Sunday, Faulkner won a gold medal in road cycling, stunning the world.

Just three days later, she was one of four cyclists who led Team USA to a win over New Zealand in the women’s team pursuit finals.

Ken Castner, Homer’s mayor, was on a ferry from Homer to Ketchikan when Faulkner secured her second gold medal.

“Word spread through the ferry within 10 minutes after the race was over — because I was in the cafeteria — I stood up and said, ‘An athlete from Homer just won her second gold.’ Cheer, and then people were congratulating me ... like I won the medal,” he said with a laugh.

Castner is a longtime family friend of the Faulkners, and has known Kristen from the time she was a little girl participating in ballet and dance.

Knowing her like he does, her showing at the Paris Olympics doesn’t come as a big surprise, but Castner said her journey to France was remarkable.

“A year ago she was in complete rehab in Homer, you know, from the accident when a car ran her over,” he explained. “It’s just a wonderful story.”

It’s a story that will be told for years to come as Homer has a new hero bringing the community together.

“But it’s a huge builder of community, because sports crosses all the all the lines, you know,” he said. “No political affiliations or anything like that, and so it’s a great community builder.

“To have an — any Olympic athlete anyway, you know just to have an Olympic athlete in the Olympics — but to have one that’s won two golds, it’s huge.

“I don’t care if you were her best friend, or you knew her best friend, or you knew the cousin of the guy that knew the best friend. I mean, the tenuousness of relationships evaporates, and everybody knows her, and everybody’s a new friend,” he said. “And, yeah, it’s just — have you heard? Have you heard? Have you heard?”

The action doesn’t slow for Faulkner, as she’s gearing up to hit the road for the Tour de France Femmes, which begins on Monday.

Faulkner is now the only Alaskan to win two gold medals at the Olympic Games and Homer’s mayor is nearly at a loss for words.

“She’s our gal from Homer, by golly,” he said. “And she had to come from someplace, and it’s our place.”

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