Lake Forest Olympic Cyclist Honored By City Council

LAKE FOREST, CA- The Lake Forest City Council on Tuesday honored Olympic cyclist Amber Neben with its “Community Hero” award.

“Amber Neben is a three-time Olympic cyclist, a two-time World Champion, and importantly, to us, a Lake Forest resident,” Deputy City Manager Brett Channing said in announcing the honor. “The City created a Community Heroes program to recognize our City’s special residents, and I believe you’ll agree Amber is a hero to many.”

Neben represented the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to COVID. She competed in the individual time trial, finishing just 11 seconds from a bronze medal and 17 seconds from a silver medal – making all of her country, and especially Lake Forest, proud.

Her road to the Olympics was not easy – she was a collegiate runner on scholarship at University of Nebraska when stress fractures forced her retirement. She ultimately turned to cycling and rode into history. She now often speaks on embracing adversity and other topics like setting and achieving goals, and motivation. Her audiences have ranged from kindergarten classes to churches to corporate offices. She was also one of the oldest cyclists competing, at 46.

“It’s always an honor to represent the United States of America, whether it’s the World Championships or the Olympic Games,” Neben told the Council. “It’s been a special ride and it’s still going on right now. Thank you to the City and to the Community -- and I’ll see you out on the road.”

Neben said she lives in Lake Forest with her husband because of the City’s access to routes for training rides – and because they love their neighborhood community.

See www.lakeforestca.gov/communityheroes for more on the Community Heroes program.