USA Cycling Invests in Women’s Success in Run-Up To LA 2028
American women are the engine of U.S. Olympic cycling. Since the London Games, they have accounted for 95 percent of every medal Team USA has brought home from the Olympic velodrome, road course, mountain bike trail and BMX events. Not a majority. Not most. Ninety-five percent.
Clearly female athletes are America’s superpower and the reason USA Cycling is making a long-term, structural commitment to invest in the science, systems, and support infrastructure that female athletes have always deserved and that the sport has not built yet.
Historically, only six percent of sports science research focuses exclusively on female physiology and, for decades, training protocols, recovery frameworks, and performance modeling were designed around male athletes and applied to women as an afterthought. Now the federation is building performance systems designed from the ground up around how female athletes actually train, recover, and compete. American women have been outperforming the investment made in them for years. Closing that gap ahead of a home Olympics and Paralympics is the highest-upside bet in U.S. cycling.
Sustaining and expanding the commitment to female athletes requires investment. Following the Paris Games when 100% of Olympic and 75% of Paralympic American cycling medals were won by women, the Hellman Foundation gifted $1 million to establish the Women’s Cycling Fund and put forward a $1.5 million challenge match to create a quasi endowment for sustained investment in female cyclists.
In response, the USA Cycling Foundation has raised nearly $1.2 million in new commitments over the past year for the Women's Cycling Fund and Quasi-Endowment, including a new $500,000 gift from the Clarke Family Foundation.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kristen Faulkner is one of the national team athletes whose programs directly benefit from the fund's investment in research, coaching infrastructure, and performance technology. "Finally, the science of how I train and recover is built specifically for me, not adapted from a program designed for someone with a completely different physiology. That changes everything about how I prepare for competition." Kristen Faulkner, Olympic Champion
Leadership Gifts
Hellman Foundation: $2.5 million Seed Gift. The Hellman Foundation provided a $1 million anchor commitment as well as a $1.5 million challenge match to create the Women's Cycling Fund and Quasi-Endowment. "For decades, American women have powered the country’s Olympic cycling success. This investment keeps them competing at the very front of the sport." said Mick Hellman, Hellman Foundation.
Clarke Family Foundation: $500,000 New Gift. Andy Clarke and the Clarke Family Foundation have just announced a $500,000 commitment, one of the most significant new gifts in support of women’s cycling. "American women are the backbone of this program's Olympic success. I support this effort because investing in the science, athletes, and programs behind that success is where donor capital can make the most immediate and meaningful impact for Team USA," said Andy Clarke, Clarke Family Foundation.
To support the Women's Cycling Fund, visit usacycling.org/foundation/womens-cycling-fund.
