Spokeswoman
Track cycling star Laura Kenny tells Gabrielle Fagan how she balances motherhood and sport
With four Olympic Gold medals, Laura Kenny is Britain’s most successful female Olympian. It’s a remarkable achievement for a woman who was born four weeks early with a collapsed lung, spent her first six weeks in intensive care and her childhood battling permanent chest infections due to asthma.
Advised to take up sport to improve her health, she’s defied the odds and has gone on to win two track cycling Gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics, and two more at the Rio games in 2016.
Defying the doubters, the 26-yearold, who’s married to fellow track cyclist Jason Kenny, got back into competing only six months after having their son, Albert, who is now 10 months old. Here, Kenny shares how motherhood has changed her life, and how she’s more relaxed than ever before.
How has having your son Albie changed you?
“It’s completely changed both Jason and I. Becoming parents has made us realise there’s more to life than just bike riding. It’s totally altered our perspective and made us see everything in a completely different light – now we don’t stress about small, unimportant things.
“I still really care about training, though. As an athlete, every time you put your leg over your bike, you care about it – because it’s too hard to do half-heartedly.”
Do you have the same struggles with a young baby as any other mum?
“Of course, we’re a normal family. Albie’s an absolute nightmare about sleeping; he wakes up every couple of hours throughout the night, which is exhausting.
“Every morning, Jase takes Albie off for two hours while I catch up on sleep. He’s an unbelievable dad – we share the parenting 50/50, so he does the cooking while I look after Albie.”
Did you consider retiring when you became a mum?
“No, I knew I’d be a working mum. Dame Jessica Ennis-hill really inspired me – she returned to the track after having her son.
“It was hard getting fit again after I’d given birth; I’d gone from competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics, where I was probably the fittest I’d ever been, to being pregnant and six months away from training. I’d never really had a break before.
“Winning silver in the Women’s Team Pursuit in the World Championships in the Netherlands really vindicated my decision to come back. Albie was there, looked after by my parents and Jason, which made it even more special. That success showed me that sacrificing time with Albie was worthwhile and that I was on track again with my career.”
You’ve said you suffer from ‘mum guilt’ when you have to leave your son – how do you cope with that?
“Tweeting about it really helped because people told me to think about how proud Albie would eventually be of his mum and dad. It’s still really hard leaving him when I go to training, as I’m away for around five hours. I’ve taken him abroad for events, even though it breaks his routine, because I haven’t been able to leave him for a night yet. The thought of him waking up and wanting a cuddle, and me not being there, really freaks me out.”
Has having a baby affected your sporting performance?
“Oddly, I think it’s helped improve my performance.
“Recently, I was in the shower before a race and my dad was looking after Albie. Through the door, I could hear him saying, ‘Albie, don’t eat the toilet paper’. Even just laughing at small moments like that distracts me from getting tense and worrying about things like I did before.”
Are you still just as ambitious to achieve your sporting goals?
“Totally. Although I’m the most successful female Olympian, I want to go even further. I want to be on the all-time list – not just the female list. My goal is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so although we want more children eventually, we won’t be having any more before that.
You suffer from asthma and acid reflux – are those conditions hard to deal with?
“I think I’ve outgrown the asthma and I don’t use inhalers any more. I get acid reflux, which makes me sick after exercise and I feel like my head’s going to explode. It’s annoying.”
Why are you campaigning about preventing accidents to cyclists from car-dooring?
“Car-dooring is a real problem. It’s down to the fact that people don’t look and are too quick to get out of the car. I’ve had a few near misses myself and luckily I’ve not been injured, but people in my cycling team have been hit – one had broken ribs. Addison Lee’s research found 65 per cent of people either knew somebody who’d been hit by a car door or had been hit by a car door themselves.” n
“Every morning, Jase takes Albie off for two hours while I catch up on sleep”
Laura Kenny has launched the ‘Addison Lean’ – which encourages drivers and passengers to use their hand furthest away from the car door to open it, to help spot oncoming cyclists. Visit addisonlee.com for more information.