Interview with Kristen Thorsness, Olympic Gold Medalist and Attorney

I recently had the opportunity to interview Kristen Thorsness, attorney at Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC.¹ Kristen has had a remarkable career. In 1984, she was part of the first U.S. women’s rowing team to win Olympic gold.²

Kristen discussed her experience as a rower, and as an Olympic gold medalist. She said this experience was a dream come true for her. Kristen played a lot of sports as a kid where she learned to work hard. Rowing resonated with her, though she never tried it until she went to college. In college, Kristen was often told she was too small to row, since she was 5’9” in height. However, Kristen did not let this stop her. She kept showing up and working hard. Kristen discovered that she has large lungs and a hyper-efficient heart. This means that her body absorbs oxygen at a higher rate.

The summer after college, Kristen made her first national team. She had the opportunity to go to Switzerland for the World Championships, where she received a silver medal. Kristen stated, “so much of success is showing up every day and giving it your best shot every day.” In 1983, she went to Germany and received another World Championship silver medal. Kristen then went to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California. She said that this “felt very unreal because it was very unlikely.” Kristen is a public figure in Alaska, since she was the first to win an Olympic medal of any kind.

Moreover, we discussed her career as an attorney. She had family members who were lawyers. For instance, her father and brother practiced in Alaska. Kristen realized that she was well-suited for this career. She enjoys the intellectual challenge of being a lawyer and loves legal analysis and writing. Further, she likes the hard work and the grind. Kristen was still training for the U.S. Rowing Team through her first two and a half years of law school.

After graduation, Kristen began practicing commercial litigation and product liability in a large private firm in San Francisco. Her work focused on insurance, securities, and more. She then moved in-house at Alameda County in California, and for Ontario County after she moved to New York State.

Unfortunately, when Kristen was forty-seven years old, she suffered from a heart attack. After this, she took some time off and decided to teach. During COVID-19, Kristen practiced for about a year and a half with her brother, an attorney in Alaska. Kristen then received a call from Bond, Schoeneck & King because they wanted to add Title IX work to their existing collegiate sports practice. For the past almost three years, her work has focused on Title IX gender equity in athletics. Kristen primarily represents colleges being sued or investigated, as well as helping clients comply with Title IX’s various requirements.

Title IX was enacted in 1972. Shortly after, the Supreme Court held that it applies to sports. Colleges argued that sports programs were not part of their educational mission, but the Court disagreed and said that collegiate sports are part of the educational program. Title IX applies first to access – how many men and women are playing compared to the number of male and female students in the school, and whether there is unmet need among the underrepresented gender. Title IX also applies to athletic benefits and financial assistance. This includes uniforms, practice time, competition schedules, facilities, locker rooms, housing and food, scholarships, coaching, and more. Lastly, Title IX applies to K-12 as well.

Until February of 2025, Title IX in athletics was enforced through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”). People could file a complaint with OCR for free if they believed a school was in violation of Title IX. Then, OCR would initiate an investigation. If OCR found a violation, there was a process of negotiation to settlement. The current administration closed seven out of twelve OCR investigation offices nationwide. Many investigations have been canceled, and Title IX enforcement has significantly decreased in this area. However, an individual plaintiff can still file a suit by bringing a private action. This process is often difficult because it is expensive and there are not a lot of money damages in Title IX cases.

This has affected part of Kristen’s practice. She recently finished a large project for a D1 program this summer, where Kristen and a team of Bond attorneys assessed student athlete well-being programs. This process took around three months to complete. This included interviewing over fifty people, reviewing documents, creating a survey, and more. The Bond team looked at best practices and legal obligations for this project.

Kristen is also a member of adjudicative panels for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and an arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”).³ This includes selection disputes and disciplinaries. During the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in China, she took part in adjudicating a disciplinary matter involving a U.S. coach and athlete. During COVID-19, Kristen heard several appeals from athletes who did not want to get vaccinated, but still wanted to train with others at the U.S. Olympic Training Centers. In addition, CAS arbitrators are sent to every Olympic game to arbitrate disputes. Last summer, she traveled to Paris where she was an arbitrator on four cases during the 2024 Olympic Games. During this time, Kristen and her CAS colleagues were on call 24/7.

Furthermore, Kristen has authored and co-authored several articles, mostly created for informational purposes. Clients are alerted to these issues and can ask for guidance. Some of Kristen’s articles are: OCR Issues New Guidance on the Application of Title IX in Higher Education (2023), Past and Present College Athletes Sue NCAA Over Transgender Participation Rules (2024), and President Trump Signs Executive Order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” (2025).⁴

Thank you, Kristen, for providing me with the opportunity to learn more about your career. I enjoyed hearing about your experiences and your current work in athletics regulation.

1. Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, Kristen J. Thorsness Profile, Bond Schoeneck & King Attorneys, https://www.bsk.com/people/kristen-j-thorsness (last visited Oct. 12, 2025). ↩︎
2. Id. ↩︎
3. Id. ↩︎
4. Id. ↩︎

Featured Image: Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, Kristen J. Thorsness Profile, Bond Schoeneck & King Attorneys, https://www.bsk.com/people/kristen-j-thorsness (last visited Oct. 12, 2025).