After winning the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, Kristin Armstrong (Twenty16-ShoAir) retired from professional cycling and spent two years commentating for TV, directing, coaching and parenting. In her recent comeback, she proved that despite her hiatus from the sport she was still a force to be reckoned with, time trialling to a third-place finish at the Tour of California Invitational Time Trial and then to the win at the USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The drive that compels her to keep coming back to professional cycling is never far beneath the surface. Her competitive nature appears in many facets of her life.
"I don't just come back because I'm not satisfied, it's because I love competition," Armstrong said. "When I play dominoes with my family they say 'do you have to win every game?' and I'm like, 'I'm sorry, I do!' I just love it."
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At 41 years old Armstrong is on the older side of the pro peloton but she draws inspiration from triathletes and marathon runners. Armstrong looks at triathlons as an example of a sport where older athletes are common and accepted. Like marathoners, Armstrong plans to target a handful of races and then go after them. The philosophy fits in well with her ‘quality over quantity' approach that she now must use in her busy life.
"My son's four and a half, he's in preschool. I have a part-time job, I have such great balance," Armstrong said. "It took a couple of years to get used to going back to work again and those early years before Luke went to preschool. But now I feel like I want to exercise. I love training, and why not set a goal."
Armstrong could compete as a masters rider but feels it would be sandbagging. She can still win in the pro peloton and so that is where she wants to be.
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