The weight of gold - Anna Kiesenhofer on managing expectations after Tokyo Olympics shock victory

Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer, an amateur at the time, sent shockwaves through both the cycling and wider sporting communities when she won Olympic gold in the women’s road race at Tokyo 2020. It was a story for the ages as she crossed the line 75 seconds ahead of Annemiek van Vleuten, who herself celebrated without realising the gold had already been claimed.

In the process, Austria’s first summer Olympic gold since 2004 and their first in cycling in 125 years was won.

Kiesenhofer has gone from amateur to professional in the years that followed, now racing with Israel-Premier Tech Roland. The historic gold has, however, added a weight of expectation that has somewhat marred her tenure as reigning Olympic champion. 

“To be honest, it did affect the expectations both from other people and myself. Myself not that much because I know that, genetically, I haven't changed since the Olympics. It's just that other people know me now, but I'm the same person that I was before. It doesn't make sense to think that now, magically, my watts will massively go up only because I have an Olympic gold medal; that's not the case, but people think that,” Kiesenhofer said in an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews.

“It's almost like a reproach when I only came 15th or whatever, people think you should win because you're the Olympic champion - it just doesn't make sense at all. I haven't fundamentally changed as a person, my genetic make-up is the same. It was sometimes hard to deal with that because anything I did was framed as a disappointment - everyone was measuring it with Olympic gold,” she explained candidly.

“I've kind of come to terms with it, and I just look at myself and my progress. Maybe I have come full circle to how I was before the Olympic Games. It was very much the same: looking at my own progress and not getting distracted by what other people are doing or saying.”

While the victory will remain one of the greatest in Olympic history, Kiesenhofer admits that, perhaps unlike others, the dream of becoming an Olympian, let alone a gold medalist, was never a lifelong ambition. 

“Before Tokyo, I didn't really buy into the hype around the Olympics,” she said honestly. “It might sound a bit strange, but it was never a childhood dream of mine to become an Olympian. Now that I'm more in the sports bubble before I was an amateur, and now I'm a professional cyclist, I see the value more because everybody wants to be at the Olympics. In that sense, there is kind of additional motivation to be there just because I see how much everybody wants to be there, I see more of the hype.”

The Austrian signed a professional contract in 2023 with Israel-Premier Tech Roland which has given her a first taste of consistently racing at the top level and being immersed within a team.

The 32-year-old was previously on the books at Lotto Soudal Ladies back in 2017, although she admits that the change in the cycling landscape, as well as her personal circumstances since, have meant that her recent contract has provided a contrasting experience.

“In general, women's cycling has just developed so much, so it's very hard to compare. In 2017, when I signed with Lotto Soudal, I didn't actually do many races because I was in a bad moment in my life in general. I wasn't really fit enough to race neither mentally nor physically, so it wasn't really a proper experience,” she said.

“This year was my first year racing at this level against the best in the world in several road races, not just the Olympic Games. It was completely different from what I had done before. The whole team dynamics, racing against the big teams, all of that kind of thing, I'd never had this exposure before.”

It was a mixed season this year for Kiesenhofer however, in the latter half, the time trial, now her preferred discipline, was where she really shone. She ended the season at the top of the podium at Chrono des Nations and Chrono Gatineau and additionally added a fourth Austrian ITT title to her palmarès in June.

“The first part [of the 2023 season] was very hard for me, but I think that's also normal because it was my first year racing at that level, so it was a bit of a shock to the system. That also made it a great experience, and I learned so much even though it was tough.

“The second part was very much focused on time trialling, which has been my favourite discipline for a couple of years now. I got some good results there, so that also made me happy on the outcome side of things. The first part was really about learning, and then the second part, I also had some outcomes,” she said on reflection.

Before signing for Israel-Premier Tech Roland, she enjoyed a brief stint with Soltec, which allowed her to race at the 2022 Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta - a race which turned out to be one of her favourite racing memories in the years after her Olympic victory and spurred her on to continue racing.

“I really liked the 2022 Vuelta. I wasn't really in a UCI team last year but I signed with Soltec for a short period in order to race the Vuelta. That was kind of a fun race because I don't know why, but I just felt really strong physically. I didn't really get any great results, but it was fun to be in the mix and attack and feel strong. I went in this crazy breakaway, 160kms on my own, and it felt cool to race like that, and it was also my motivation for giving road racing another go.”

Her learnings in the past two years have spanned beyond professional racing, and the importance of simplicity is one that has been particularly reinforced.

“Sometimes confirming that what I had been doing was actually right in the sense now I have more opportunities [has been important]. I could do lots of fancy stuff, for example, with training and using many fancy tools, and then I realised that a lot of that is actually a distraction. Just doing the basics like I did before Tokyo is actually the most important thing. Being a minimalist despite the new opportunities is something I've learned since Tokyo.”

As eyes turn to Paris 2024, now just seven months away, Kiesenhofer has her sights set on the time trial rather than defending the road race title this time around.

“Austria has two places for the time trial and for the road race. That's really cool because I love time trialling. I hope I can get one of these two spots, then, my focus will be more on the time trial. I don't want to put any pressure on myself, and as I said, the main focus for myself will be the TT. However, we have another very strong Austrian, Christina Schweinberger.

“In the road race, it will be more about supporting her because I think on this course she has much better chances than I have. The time trial, I like any time trial, so I'll be fine! 

"The road race, on paper, doesn't really play into my cards. Of course, if everybody has forgotten who I am, then I can win again [she laughs], but on paper, it should suit Christina. We will certainly fight for the medals,” she added proudly.