I couldn’t let sis get all the fun
John joined Katie on track
John Archibald was helping sell beds when sister Katie stormed to Olympic gold.
Nineteen months on, the fellow track cyclist is hoping for a king-sized success after joining her in the other family business of winning medals.
Their journeys followed a similar path to the velodrome via a detour working in an empire dad Ian has now built up to 11 stores.
John, the older of the two by four years, is trying to develop his own name, though, rather than just being known as Katie’s brother.
That’s not to say he finds it tiresome – unless their paths cross on the track as John had the misfortune of experiencing six days ago.
The 27-year- old, one of four sets of siblings set for the Commonwealth Games, said: “I rarely ever race her, that is until Monday.
“We were on the track doing some efforts behind the motorbike, getting up to race speed and doing sprints off the back of it.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘ What am I going to do here?’ watching her manoeuvre around the sprints.
“And she caught me by total surprise and just dropped me at the first one. I thought, ‘ This can’t be happening to me, I have really got to get my act together here.’
“It ended up in full-effort sprints and me trying to get the best of my sister! Well, I will say I did and she will say what she says. We both followed a path into swimming as a starting point and at that point we were competitive with each other.
“If I was doing something then Katie wanted to be doing it too.
“That has probably dragged her along quite a long way but now we are older it has mellowed quite a bit and it is more supportive than rivalry.
“If it was a rivalry then I would lose hands down because she is on a different level at the moment.
“It’s inspirational almost rather than a rivalry.”
That much was clear to see just eight weeks ago at the National Track Championships in Manchester.
After landing the second of three British titles, Katie was captured trackside screaming her sibling on to his maiden national crown. Not a feat to be frowned upon given the older of the two only swapped the road for the track last year with the prospect of a Games bow on the horizon.
Joining a sport his sister has already stamped the Archibald name on with a thrilling team pursuit gold in Rio doesn’t faze him in terms of heightened expectations though.
John, whose sibling is in the GB squad based in Manchester, said: “It is not something I think about a lot because no matter how much pressure I have on me, Katie has a whole lot more on her.
“Every race she goes into she is going to have a target on her back whereas, particularly on the Scottish scene, I am recognised in my own right.
“Pe o p l e see t he achievements I’ve had in Scotland and respect that. There is no negative impact being related to Katie, it is a nice thing to have.
“Having your name out there and people interested in how you are getting on is great, so that is where it does come into its own.
“My goals at the moment are purely focused on the Commonwealth Games and then once I come home I’ll probably go back to normal life.
“If I go to the Games and have the race of my life and start performing in a way that suggests I could go on to the British programme I would be excited about it but at the moment it is not a realistic opportunity. It would be a dream if it did come true.”
Starring on the Gold Coast is a “once in a lifetime opportunity” as far as John is concerned, although the everyday that awaits after the Games isn’t one he’s dreading.
“Normal life is working in the bed shop and fitting in training as a hobby,” he said. “That’s how it started and that’s how I’d like it to continue.
“There used to be days back in the early days of the business when I was called in to do warehouse jobs or I’ve been on the roof clearing gutters – odd jobs that just need done.
“That has progressed to a business now where there are always others who can fill the gaps. “I have gone to part-time work and now I’m rarely at work. It’s got to a point where this is very serious.
“You’re turning up to sessions thinking I’ve got to be here and perform at my best because I’ve downed tools to do this.
“Whereas before I was fitting in my training around work and racing around it and just enjoying it as a hobby. Every now and again you have to step back and say, ‘ Well look, I’ve still got to be enjoying myself.’”
No matter how much pressure I have on me, Katie has a whole lot more on her