Jennifer Valente celebrates with family after winning the women’s omnium, points race 4/4 at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Aug. 11, 2024 in Paris. (Photo by Getty Images)
MONTIGNY-LE-BRETONNEUX, France — Three years ago, Jennifer Valente made history as the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic track cycling event by securing gold in the omnium.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Valente reaffirmed her dominance in the omnium with a commanding performance.
She won two of the four races and skillfully neutralized nearly every challenge in the points race, finishing with 144 points—15 ahead of Poland’s Daria Pikulik, who took second. New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston completed the podium with 125 points.
This gold medal marks Valente’s fifth Olympic medal across three Games and her second gold of these Games. She previously earned a silver in team pursuit at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and both a silver and gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“Honestly, I’m just exhausted,” Valente said, standing in her podium attire inside the sweltering velodrome. “It’s been a long journey, and although it was only a three-year cycle, it felt incredibly intense. We’ve been going all out the entire time. This is an amazing way to finish.”
First introduced at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the omnium was designed to determine the best all-around rider, from sprinting to endurance. Since its debut, the format has evolved. Originally a six-race event spread over two days, it has now been streamlined into a four-race event held on a single day.
The omnium begins with the scratch race, where the first rider to cross the finish line after 30 laps earns 40 points towards their overall score. The tempo race follows, often called the “point-a-lap” race, where the first rider to cross the line on each lap (after the first five laps) gains a point, with the rider accumulating the most points winning the event.
Next is the elimination race, in which the last rider to cross the line every two laps is eliminated until only one remains. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, the 22 riders in the women’s field competed over 44 laps. The omnium concludes with an 80-lap points race, featuring a sprint every 10 laps, where riders can earn 5, 3, 2, or 1 points, with double points awarded at the finish and 20 points for lapping the field.
Since her win at the Tokyo Olympics, Valente has dominated the omnium, securing two world titles in 2022 and 2023.
A track cycling veteran, Valente began her journey at the age of 13 by taking free classes for kids at the San Diego velodrome. Just a year later, she accompanied friends to the national championships and ended up winning two junior titles.
Marty Nothstein, an Olympic gold medalist in track cycling, recognized her talent early on and told Valente’s coach, “She’s a special one, make sure you take care of it,” as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Valente excelled in track sprinting, earning 12 junior national titles and one junior world title. By the time she was 16, she had been named to USA Cycling’s 2012 Olympic “long team,” a list of riders from which the Olympic cycling team was selected. Although she didn’t compete in London, this experience made her realize that competing in the Olympics was within her reach.
In the summer of 2013, Valente moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to train. There, she met Sarah Hammer, who encouraged her to try endurance events on the track, such as individual pursuit, team pursuit, and the omnium. At that time, Hammer had already won two of her four Olympic silver medals (in team pursuit and omnium).
“She moved to Colorado to train with me when she was 18,” Hammer recalled. “From day one, she was always prepared and brought an intensity and determination I had never seen at that age.”
Within a few years, Valente became a strong contender in track endurance events. At the 2015 UCI World Track Championships, the U.S. women’s team finished fifth in team pursuit. The next day, Valente earned her first world championship medal, a silver in individual pursuit.
In 2016, the U.S. won the world team pursuit title with both Valente and Hammer on the team. A few months later, at the 2016 Olympic Games, they claimed silver in team pursuit. It was Hammer’s fourth Olympic medal and Valente’s first.
After Rio, Valente became a veteran on the team, collecting numerous world championship medals, including three more in team pursuit. She also began to regularly finish on the podium in the omnium.
Heading into Tokyo, Valente was considered a strong medal contender in the omnium, though not necessarily for gold. However, she performed exceptionally well, winning two of the four races in the event and becoming the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold in track cycling.
“This had always been a goal,” Valente said in Tokyo. “Achieving it opens your eyes to new opportunities and goals for the future.”
The future was indeed bright. After winning the world omnium titles in 2022 and 2023, Valente arrived in Paris as the favorite to defend her Olympic title.
She started her 2024 Olympic campaign by helping Team USA win the team pursuit. Later, she and Lily Williams finished fourth in the Madison race. On the final day of the Paris Olympic Games, she entered the omnium with confidence.
“I knew what I was capable of, and strong performances earlier in the week took some pressure off,” Valente said. “I was able to race the omnium as a bonus at the end of the week.”
Valente rode a smart scratch race, taking the lead with two laps to go and securing the maximum 40 points. In the tempo race an hour later, she finished second, adding 38 points to her total. In the elimination race, she faced off against Australia’s Georgia Baker in the final sprint, with Valente coming out on top.
In the points race, Valente won the first of 10 sprints and gained a lap on the field when needed. By the end of 80 laps, her gold medal was secured.
“My career has always revolved around the Olympics,” she said. “To perform well on this stage is a dream come true.”
Valente’s face lit up when she learned she had tied Olympic diver Greg Louganis for the most Olympic medals by a San Diegan (Louganis won four golds and a silver in the 1976, 1984, and 1988 Games).
“Those are things you realize later, that you were creating history,” she said. “But in the moment, it’s not on your mind.”
Valente’s gold was one of the final medals won by Team USA at the 2024 Paris Games, where Team USA athletes claimed 40 gold medals, tying with China.
