WHW Profile: Connie Carpenter

“Girls Didn’t Play Ice Hockey”

Helen Constance "Connie" Carpenter was born February 26, 1957 in Madison, Wisconsin. Carpenter began skating because her brothers played hockey growing up. Like most younger siblings, Connie wanted to try skating either out of admiration or to prove she could hang. The only problem was, “girls didn’t play ice hockey”, recounts Carpenter for the LA84Foundation.

So, Connie took up speed skating, often taking advantage of a flooded playground and cold nights in Wisconsin to practice. At 12 years old, she joined the Madison Speed Skating Club. By 14, Carpenter found herself on the 1972 Olympic Team. She and Kathryn “Kay” Lunda, also from Madison, were the youngest members of Team USA for the 1972 Sapporo games. Both competed in one event and finished 7th overall; Connie in the 1,500 meter and Kay in the 500 meter race. It would be USA teammates Dianne Holum (20) and Anne Henning (16) who would take gold in the 1,500 m and 500 m races, respectively.

By 1976, Connie was setting records and winning national titles as a speed skater. She won the Senior National Long Track Champion and Senior North American Long Track Champion in 1976, while also setting 3 Senior National Records and 3 North American Senior National Records. Carpenter was likely to return to Team USA for the 1976 Olympics, but she suffered a peroneal tendon tear one week before the Olympic Trials. “I always wanted to go to the Olympics again and thought I was just getting started as a speedskater,” recounts Connie for the National Speedskating Museum, “I didn’t make the team and I was devastated.”

Navigating a New Course

However, Carpenter wasn’t quite done with competition. Cycling and rowing became her go-to outlets for fitness and competition while attending the University of California, Berkeley. She won consecutive national titles for both road and track pursuits from 1976-1979. At UC Berkeley, she rowed for two seasons, placing second in the country in 1979, and winning a National Championship in the varsity four in 1980. Carpenter graduated in 1981, and continued cycling. In 1983, Carpenter was again on track for the Olympics. This time, she would have the company of Davis Phinney, fellow American cyclist and future husband. The pair married in the fall of 1983, then focused on training for the Olympics.

The First and the Last

The 1984 Los Angeles Games were the first to host Women’s Cycling. Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Rebecca Twigg were fierce competitors for the gold. The two came into the Olympics as world and national champions, looking to make history. Twing had an entire racing career ahead of her, while Carpenter-Phinney was looking to cap hers off with an Olympic medal. “I think Rebecca and I made each other better cyclists, because we wanted to beat each other very badly.” It would take a mad dash and the last minute thrusting of her bike for Carpenter-Phinney to edge out her teammate. The top five competitors crossed the finish line within one second of each other.

“[The Olympics] was the crowning glory of a long career,” said Carpenter-Phinney, “and it gave me a chance to retire on top, which is what I wanted to do.”

A Family Affair

In 1984, Davis Phinney would place 5th overall on the same track his wife made history. Later in the games Davis would win bronze in the team trail. Connie and Davis remained in the sport, coaching and traveling to promote and support cycling. Eventually, the couple would settle back in the states to raise their family. The former Olympians have a son, Taylor and a daughter, Kelsey. Taylor Phinney has represented Team USA Cycling in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Kelsey Phinney is a Nordic Skier. If you ask Carpenter-Phinney, her family is what she is most proud of, “The ‘84 Olympics will live forever in my heart as a real defining moment in my life, but I don’t hang my hat on just being an Olympian. I’m proudest of being a really good person and contributing to my community, and especially to my family.”

Connie is seen by her family and close friends as “superwoman”. She supported both of her children, serving as Taylor’s business manager and Kelsey’s driver. In a New York Times article, she was lovingly referred to as “broad-shouldered Connie” for her ability to carry the family burdens. In addition to raising two athletes, Davis Phinney was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at 30. The retired cyclist-turned TV Announcer, his wife, and their children (Nine and three) would be irrevocably changed. According to the National Parkinson’s Foundation, less than 2% of the 1 million people diagnosed with Parkinson’s are under the age of 40.

Davis and his family know they have a tough road ahead, as Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease. However, the Phinney Family tradition of athletic performance is actually a source of relief from the stress and symptoms of the disease, “I had a choice of how to approach the disease,” said Davis, “with [parkinson’s Disease] your goal is to stem decline … instead of reaching for a high point [like training for the Olympics] you're just trying not to get to a low point.”

Athlete to Advocate

Connie serves as an Ambassador to the Davis Phinney Foundation, started by her husband to share history about living with PD. She also is very vocal about the state of women’s cycling. In an article with espnW, Carpenter-Phinney states, “Let me start by saying that women's cycling has improved but not nearly to the degree that the men's side of the sport has improved over the last three decades. I was considered an amateur in my day, but probably was supported at a higher level than two-thirds of the current professional female peloton.”

The former Olympian goes on to say, “Simply put, the sport lacks funding. I don't know what comes first, the funding and sponsors or the TV and media exposure, but they feed on each other. The Olympics fortunately allows women's cycling to really shine on a world stage, which definitely gives the sport more of both, at least every four years ... One thing I had during my career was that most races in the U.S. were concurrent with men's events, which meant bigger crowds and more exposure, which equates to more sponsors. That is clearly lacking at the moment.”

Connie is one of few Olympians to compete in the Summer and Winter games, she has become a champion in every sports she competed in. For her many athletic talents, Connie was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. She is also an inductee of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame (, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Carpenter-Phinney was also named to the Pac-12 All-Century team.

Yet, between her family and her passion to see women’s cycling grow, I dare say her best is yet to come.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08