Anna Kiesenhofer, a 30-year-old Austrian, began to stand out in cycling during her stay at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) in 2016, where she studied her PhD in Applied Mathematics. During her time in Barcelona, she was an amateur cyclist in our Costa Brava Mediterranean Foods women’s cycling team, where she won the Spanish Cup. This championship was the pass to leave behind the amateur events and focus on elite cycling, where she set herself the goal of participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Her Olympic gold in the women’s road race category of cycling in Tokyo was big news for everyone as she was the first Austrian woman to win a medal in an Olympic road race, and the first to win an Olympic medal in any cycling discipline in 125 years.
She started to stand out in our cycling team in 2016, the same year in which she came second in the Austrian time trial championships, where she won a stage, and was second in the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche (France).
However, when she was about to make the leap to professional cycling, osteoporosis problems in her spine forced her to give up competitive cycling. It is for this reason that the Austrian was the surprise of these Olympic Games, since this situation happened 4 years ago and she simply continued competing as an amateur, without a professional contract, because cycling was her passion.
In the Olympics, rival teams with cyclists aiming for the title did not take Anna into account, who, thanks to her calculations and perseverance, had distanced herself from the first moment, so they were in for a surprise when she reached the finish line alone with a time of 3:52:45 and took first place on the podium. This was also partly due to the fact that there was no communication possible between teams and cyclists, as in all other competitions, as communication is not allowed in Olympic competitions.
Amid smiles and tears, Kiesenhofer celebrated her greatest success lying on the finish line at the Fuji International Motor Circuit in Tokyo, where her first public words were:
“I was just trying to get to the finish line. My legs were completely exhausted. I’ve never been exhausted like that in my whole life. I could hardly pedal any more. I felt like I had zero energy in my legs. It’s so unbelievable. I really sacrificed a lot for today. I didn’t expect to finish like this. I sacrificed everything even if it was for a top 15 finish and now I get this, for the sacrifices, it’s a fair reward, it’s unbelievable.”
According to “CyclingNews”, he had posted a graphic on Twitter showing his meticulous acclimatisation process, anticipating the high temperatures in Tokyo, which apart from the physical preparation, he studied and calculated all the details to achieve his goal.
He currently works at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, where he combines research with teaching.
From Costa Brava Mediterranean Foods we wish Anna every success in her career. And we encourage our Women’s Cycling Team to follow their dreams because with courage and dedication they can come true.
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