Anna Kiesenhofer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Anna Kiesenhofer

Kiesenhofer at the 2022 European Championships
Personal information
Born	(1991-02-14) 14 February 1991 (age 34) Niederkreuzstetten, Austria
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)

Anna Kiesenhofer, born on February 14, 1991, is an amazing Austrian professional cyclist and a talented mathematician. She used to ride for the UCI Women's WorldTeam CGS.

Anna became famous when she won the gold medal in the women's individual road race at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This was a huge moment for Austria! It was their first Summer Olympics gold medal since 2004 and their first cycling Olympic gold medal since 1896. Before the race, no one expected her to win a medal. She surprised everyone by attacking right at the start and riding alone to victory. Other riders didn't even realize she was still ahead, making it one of the biggest upsets in Olympic and cycling history!

Anna's Academic Journey

Anna Kiesenhofer is not just a cyclist; she's also a brilliant mathematician! 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, between 2011 and 2012.

In 2016, she completed her PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Her special research was about complex math topics like "integrable systems." From 2017 to 2021, Anna worked as a researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). There, she was part of a team that studied difficult math problems called "nonlinear partial differential equations." These equations are important in physics.

Anna's Cycling Career

Anna started her sports journey in triathlon and duathlon from 2011 to 2013. These sports combine running, swimming, and cycling. After an injury, she had to stop running as much. So, from 2014, she decided to focus mainly on cycling.

She joined a team called Frigoríficos Costa Brava – Naturalium. In 2015, she competed in the Tour de l'Ardèche race. Unfortunately, she fell on the first day and had to leave the race later because she couldn't recover.

Big Wins in 2016

In 2016, Anna won the Coupe d'Espagne, which was a great achievement. In September, she returned to the Tour de l'Ardèche. On the third stage, she joined a group of riders who broke away from the main pack. Anna rode incredibly well and even caught up to another rider who had gone ahead. She won that stage by almost four minutes! This win put her in the lead for the overall race. She finished the race in second place overall, which was a fantastic result.

Olympic Gold in Tokyo

In July 2021, Anna was the only cyclist representing Austria in the women's road race at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The race was 137 kilometers long. She shocked everyone by winning the gold medal! She crossed the finish line 75 seconds ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten from the Netherlands.

What made her win even more amazing was that Anna trained for the Olympics without a coach or a professional team. Most people didn't think she would win a medal. But right from the start of the race, she broke away from the main group with four other riders.

Later in the race, with 86 kilometers left, Anna, Omer Shapira, and Anna Plichta had a huge 10-minute lead over the main group of riders (the peloton). Then, Anna Kiesenhofer made her move! She rode away from Shapira and Plichta for the last 41 kilometers, even while climbing a tough hill called Kagosaka Pass. Shapira and Plichta were eventually caught by the peloton.

Many riders in the peloton, including the silver medalist Annemiek van Vleuten, didn't realize Anna was still ahead. Van Vleuten even celebrated, thinking she had won the gold medal! 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. In 2025, she became a trainer for Team Picnic PostNL.

Major Cycling Achievements

Awards and Recognition

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

That same year, she was also recognized as Lower Austria's sportswoman of the year. Plus, she won the international success category at the Die Presse's Austrian of the Year awards. These awards show how much her hard work and amazing Olympic win were appreciated!

See also

In Spanish: Anna Kiesenhofer para niños