Cycling golden girl Laura Kenny I’M ON TRACK FOR 2ND BABY
...but not until after 2020 Olympics
BRITAIN’S most successful woman Olympian is gearing up for a new challenge but not until after the next Games. Four-time cycling gold medallist Laura Kenny, 26, is keen to give her 15-month-old son Albie a sibling. And while the Tokyo Games are still nearly two years away, Laura is sure she and husband Jason will cope well with another tot. The couple, especially Jason – who has six cycling Olympic gold medals – have taken to parenthood like riding a bike. This month Laura left Albie with Jason, 30, overnight for the first time to race. She feared the little lad would act up and it would be chaos at home. But she had to admit that her husband of two years coped far better than she does. She told the Sunday People: “I was so upset about being away because I’ve slept with Albie from day one. “But he was absolutely fine. That was the most frustrating thing. Jason was like: ‘Yep, he’s off to bed, seven o’clock.’ I was like, ‘Why did he do that for you? He doesn’t go that easily for me?’ I was convinced Albie was going to play his dad up but he didn’t.
“He went straight to bed. I was sure it would be a nightmare and he didn’t even really miss me.
“Jason’s an amazing dad. It has been a 50-50 partnership from the beginning. He’s so hands on.”
Laura returned to competition just six months after having Albie but said her boy helps her cope with the lows of being an athlete.
She said: “I see my career in a different light now. I still want to be my very best but I don’t dwell on it if I have a disappointing race.
“A couple of weekends ago I had the national championships and in a race with a partner we came second. Normally I’d be going over and over why didn’t we win, what didn’t I do right? But I didn’t even think about it.
“I was straight on the phone to Jason asking about what Albie had been up to during the day.
“I love being a mum. I came back from a track session the other day and I was looking at Albie and thinking, ‘I’m so glad we did it and took a break from our career.’
“I think at the time people thought I was mad, taking a break when I was at the top of my sport. But I just look at him and I think, ‘He makes me so unbelievably happy.’ “It’s hard juggling both but I love that my life is not just cycling any more. Now I just think I’ve got this little life to look after and he just means the absolute world to me. “Motherhood has made me look at life in a different way. Bringing him up comes before anything. If he’s poorly we miss training. He just comes first. I never looked at life like that before. “I was so selfish because you are, as an athlete. Everything has to be about you. But now it’s like I’ll take him to soft play before a session because that’s important for him.” Laura is a good pals with athletics legend and mum-of-two Dame Jess Ennis-hill who gave her tips about returning to training after a baby. She said: “Jess has been incredible, a real mentor for me. “She was so honest and open about how she got back into it, the do’s and the don’ts. She’s always on the other end of the phone if I have a question or am a bit unsure about something. “And she’s the first to congratulate me after a race.”
Laura has teamed up with Quaker Oats for its I Owe It To Oats campaign to promote nutritional breakfasts.