World-class cyclist Kristin Armstrong shares insights on leadership and perseverance

Kristin Armstrong’s unparalleled career as an elite cyclist is often summed up in one picture-perfect moment: Her smiling widely as she scoops up her young son in one hand while grasping her newest Olympic gold medal in the other hand. 

Triumph, joy and strength are writ large over that photo that was printed around the world the next day. Armstrong would eventually win a total of three gold medals in the Olympic Summer Games – Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 – making her the most-decorated U.S. women’s cyclist of all time and the best time-trialist in sports history. 

But the headlines and victory photos don’t tell the whole story, Armstrong said to a crowd of more than 500 people at the Cregger Center arena, where she headlined an Oct. 3 event focused on leadership. There were injuries, doubts and setbacks along the way that others thought would surely derail her pursuit of gold, she said. 

It took not just determination and hard work but mental preparation and wellness to succeed. That was at the heart of the message that she wanted to share with students.  

“Let me tell you something about life. If it hasn’t happened to you already, at some point you’re going to crash,” Armstrong said, adding it’s what you do after a setback that counts most.  

“You need to be ready. You need a mantra, a mantra of your own, that you can keep repeating until it becomes a part of you. Your thoughts are what feed your mind. Your body will follow.”

Armstrong’s talk, “Achieving Olympic Gold: The Kristin Armstrong Story of Commitment, Perseverance and Transcendence,” was sponsored by the Pi Lambda Phi and Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurial Innovation Leadership Speaker Series as well as the Delta Gamma Lectureships in Values and Ethics program. Davenport & Company LLC was a generous patron of the event.  

In addition to offering an opportunity to learn from Armstrong’s remarkable journey, the gathering celebrated the announcement of this year’s winners of the Roanoke College Leadership Speaker Series Scholarship: Bridget Muller ’26 and Madalyn Szoke '27. 

The scholarship was created by Pi Lambda Phi alumni, but current students in Pi Lambda Phi and Delta Gamma take the lead in organizing the process and selecting the winners.  

“The idea behind all of this is to get Roanoke students involved in leadership roles,” said Andy Jowdy ’82, a Pi Lambda Phi alumnus who co-founded the scholarship and speaker series.  

“The students don’t just attend this event,” he said. “They participate in developing it, marketing it, choosing the scholarship candidates. They go out in the community and interact with business leaders and get to learn from them.”

In addition to being an Olympian, Armstrong is a two-time World Champion and six-time U.S. National Championships winner. She’s also an entrepreneur and speaks at events with the mission of inspiring listeners to overcome adversity.

In her talk, she offered students hard-won words of wisdom delving into what she’s learned about resilience, preparation and follow-through. She said she hoped people left feeling energized to tackle their own pursuit of gold the next day.

“I hope you're motivated to get out and ride your bike tomorrow,” she said.