Anna Kiesenhofer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anna Kiesenhofer
Kiesenhofer at the 2022 European Championships
Born	(1991-02-14) 14 February 1991 (age 34) Niederkreuzstetten, Austria
Employer	EPFL
Personal information Height 165cm Team information Discipline Road Role Rider Rider type Time trialist Major wins One-day races and Classics Olympic Road Race (2020) National Road Race Championships (2019, 2024) National Time Trial Championships (2019, 2020, 2021, 2024)
Scientific career
Thesis	Integrable systems on b-symplectic manifolds (2016)
Doctoral advisor	Eva Miranda

Anna Kiesenhofer (born 14 February 1991) is an Austrian professional cyclist and a mathematician. She rides for the UCI Women's WorldTeam Roland Cycling.

Anna became very famous when she won the gold medal in the women's individual road race at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This was the first Summer Olympics gold medal for Austria since 2004. It was also their first cycling Olympic gold medal since 1896! Before the race, not many people expected her to win a medal. But she attacked right at the start and rode alone to victory. Many of the other riders didn't even know she was still ahead of them. Her win was called "one of the greatest upsets" (meaning big surprises) in Olympic and cycling history.

Anna's School and Science Career

Anna Kiesenhofer is not just a great cyclist; she's also a talented scientist! She studied mathematics at the Vienna University of Technology from 2008 to 2011. After that, she earned her Master's degree at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 2012.

She then went on to get her PhD (a very high university degree) in 2016. She did this at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Her special topic was about "integrable systems on b-symplectic manifolds," which is a complex area of math. From 2017 to 2021, Anna worked as a researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). There, she was part of a team studying special math problems called "nonlinear partial differential equations." These problems are important in mathematical physics.

Anna's Cycling Journey

Anna started her sports career in triathlon and duathlon from 2011 to 2013. These sports combine running, swimming, and cycling. After an injury, she couldn't run as much. So, she decided to focus mainly on cycling starting in 2014. She joined a team called Frigoríficos Costa Brava – Naturalium in Spain.

In 2015, she took part in some long-distance cycling events. She even won the Gran Fondo New York, which finished at a famous mountain called Mont Ventoux. She also raced in the Tour de l'Ardèche. Unfortunately, she fell during the first stage and had to leave the race later.

In 2016, Anna won the Coupe d'Espagne, a cycling competition. She returned to the Tour de l'Ardèche in September. During one stage, she was part of a group that broke away from the main pack of riders. She then rode alone up the famous Mont Ventoux mountain. She won that stage by almost four minutes and even took the lead in the overall race! She finished the race in second place overall.

Olympic Gold Medal Win

In July 2021, Anna was the only cyclist from Austria in the 137-kilometer women's road race at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She trained for this big event all by herself, without a coach or a professional team. Because of this, most people didn't think she would win a medal.

But Anna had a plan! She started the race by breaking away from the very beginning. Four other riders joined her. With about 86 kilometers left, Anna, along with two other riders, had a huge 10-minute lead over the main group (called the peloton). Anna then rode away from those two riders for the last 41 kilometers. She dropped them while climbing the Kagosaka Pass. The other two riders were later caught by the main peloton.

Many riders in the peloton, including the silver medalist Annemiek van Vleuten, didn't realize Anna was still far ahead. Van Vleuten even celebrated, thinking she had won the gold medal! Anna crossed the finish line 75 seconds ahead of her. Anna later said she "couldn't believe" she had won. She would have been happy just to finish in the top 25.

After racing on her own in 2022, Anna joined the Roland Cycling team for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Major Cycling Achievements

Awards and Recognition

Anna Kiesenhofer has received several awards for her amazing achievements. Sports Media Austria, a group of sports journalists, gave her the Niki prize. She was named Sportswoman of the Year 2021.

In the same year, she was also named the sportswoman of the year for Lower Austria. She also won an award for "international success" at the Die Presse's Austrian of the Year awards.

See Also

In Spanish: Anna Kiesenhofer para niños