- By Katie Falkingham
- ` Sport
March 18, 2024, 06:15 GMT
Updated 19 minutes ago
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“It’s the right decision” to retire from cycling – Kenny tells ` Breakfast
Dame Laura Kenny, Britain's most successful female Olympian, has announced her retirement from cycling.
The 31-year-old won five Olympic gold medals and seven world championship titles in his outstanding track and field career.
She gave birth to her second child in July and had previously set her sights on taking part in the Paris Olympics for the fourth time this year.
“I always knew deep down that I would know when the time was right,” Kenny said in an exclusive interview with ` Breakfast.
“I had a lot of fun, but now it’s time for me to hang up the bike.”
Kenny, who is married to former cyclist Sir Jason Kenny, Britain's most decorated Olympian, added: “I've been thinking about it for some time now, the sacrifices it takes, the children and the family at home Let's say they're really pretty big, and that's really a big decision to make.
“I had more and more difficulty doing that. More and more people were asking me what races I was doing, what training camps I was doing – I ended up not wanting to go, and that's what it came down to.”
“I knew the moment I felt those feelings. When I said to Jase, 'I think I don't want to ride my bike anymore,' I felt relieved.”
Kenny gave birth to her first son Albie in 2017 and then returned to cycling to prove that athletes can balance the demands of sport with motherhood.
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Laura Kenny retires: Laura Kenny – The Making of
At the start of March, British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said Kenny had only a “slim chance” of competing in Paris.
“I got these hesitant feelings,” Kenny said.
“Winning another gold medal, as much as I would like to do it, it didn't give me the energy that I wanted anymore, it just wasn't there.”
“I didn't think, 'I really want to go on and win one'. I thought, 'I really want to stay home with the kids'.”
Kenny said the logistics of traveling with Albie while competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic – had been very stressful.
“Traveling the world with Albie, traveling the world with him and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics was an absolute bloodbath,” she told Woman's Hour on ` Radio 4.
“I think Jason and I had this way of painting this really beautiful, simple picture and the picture that everyone wants: You can have a baby, you can come back and you can win a gold medal – and it looks easy. “And let me tell you, it was far from easy, it was an absolute bloodbath.
“And there were so many sacrifices along the way; there were so many flights I had to book here, there and everywhere. It was expensive.”
“It worked, yes. But it did not come without serious heartache and sacrifice.”
Kenny's brilliant career
By this point, Kenny was already a three-time world champion and came to public attention when he won gold in the women's omnium and team pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics.
Kenny said it was the “absolute highlight” of her career as the 2012 Games were a life-changing two weeks which also saw her relationship with Jason become public.
“I never thought I would ever go to a home game, let alone win two gold medals.
“When I look back I think, 'Wow, those two weeks really changed my life'.”
Four years later, she repeated the double in the omnium and team pursuit at the Rio Games, becoming the first British woman to win four Olympic titles.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Kenny won silver in the team pursuit before she and Katie Archibald became the first Olympic champions in the women's madison, a new competition at this year's Games.
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Tokyo Olympics: Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald win Madison gold
In doing so, Kenny became the first British woman to win a gold medal at three consecutive Olympics and the most successful female cyclist in the history of the Games.
Her plan was a fourth Olympics in 2024, but Kenny had yet to return to team training before announcing her retirement. April's Track Nations Cup in Canada would have been their last opportunity to collect the points needed to qualify.
She won her last world championship rainbow jersey in 2016 in the omnium and scratch races at the London track where she made her name.
Kenny is also a 14-time European champion and won three medals at the Commonwealth Games, including two gold.
What's next?
Kenny, who was made a Dame in the 2021 New Year Honours, said she was “open to anything and everything” in the next chapter of her life.
As for this summer's Olympics, Kenny said she hopes to be at the games “in some capacity.”
Speaking in early March, before news of Kenny's retirement broke, Park said he believed she would have “an ongoing association with the British cycling team for many years to come”.
“Nothing is set in stone, but there are things that really interest me,” Kenny said.
“Something that helps the younger generation, be it some kind of academy.”
“I could never become a coach because it's just too much pressure for me, but maybe there's something in the background that would help the young players take advantage of the opportunities I've had.”
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