Connie Carpenter-Phinney

Connie Carpenter-Phinney

Personal information
Full name	Connie Carpenter-Phinney
Team information
Discipline	Road, Track & Speekskating
Role	Rider
Medal record Women's Road bicycle racing Representing the United States Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984 Individual Road Race

Connie Carpenter-Phinney (born February 26, 1957 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American former racing cyclist and speed skater who won four medals in World Cycling Championship competitions (both road and track cycling) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She also won the Gold medal in the cycling road race at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as well as twelve U.S. national championships.

Before turning to cycling, Carpenter was a speed skater, one of many athletes who excelled in both sports. As a speed skater, she competed in the 1972 Winter Olympics where she finished 7th in the 1500m. In 1976, she won the U.S. national overall outdoor title, but an injury prevented her competing in the Olympics that year.

Carpenter had trained on a bicycle during the off-season and, after the ankle injury in 1976 she began racing on the bike. In 1976, 1977, and 1979, she won the U.S. national road and track pursuit championships. Later, she added a pair of national criterium championships to her resume before winning the Olympic Gold medal in 1984. In winning the gold, she threw her bike towards the finish line, a controversial move that gave her a slight edge in beating Rebecca Twigg at the finish line.

While a student at the University of California, Berkeley her athletic career centered around rowing. She was a member of Cal's varsity for two seasons. In 1979, her varsity finished second nationally, and in 1980 she reached the top of the collegiate rowing world with a national championship in the varsity four.

Carpenter-Phinney is married to Davis Phinney, with whom she has two children, Taylor and Kelsey. She is a member of both the U.S. Bicyling Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Education

• BA Physical Education, University of California, Berkeley, 1981