Laura Kenny, Britain’s most successful female Olympian, retires from cycling
Laura Kenny, Britain’s most successful female Olympic athlete, has announced her retirement from cycling. The 31year-old has won five Olympic gold medals and had been expected to compete at the Paris Games this summer, but told the BBC of her decision to end her stellar career.
“After lots of thought and consideration, I have decided I am going to retire from professional cycling,” Kenny said. “Big deal, yeah … but it’s been one ride that I would not change.
“I’ve just had an absolute blast but now is the time for me to hang that bike up … I am so, so happy with my career and now I’m sat here knowing it’s the right decision. It almost feels like a relief, being able to say it out loud.”
Kenny rose to prominence during the 2012 London Olympics, when she won gold in the team pursuit and the omnium, before repeating the double success at the Rio Games in 2016. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which were delayed a year by the Covid pandemic, Kenny claimed team pursuit silver and gold with Katie Archibald in the women’s madison.
She is a seven-times world champion and 14-times European champion, won two Commonwealth Games titles and was British National Road Race champion in 2014.
Kenny said her priority is to spend time with her two children and her husband, Jason, who is Britain’s most decorated Olympian. She gave birth to their first son, Albie, in 2017, but contemplated retirement in 2021 after a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. The couple’s second son, Monty, was born last year.
“It’s been in my head a little while. Just the sacrifices of leaving your children and your family at home is really quite big, and it really is a big decision you have to make,” Kenny said.
“It was getting more and more that I was struggling to do that. More people asked me what races was I doing, what training camps was I going on – I didn’t want to go, ultimately, and that’s what it came down to.
“I knew the minute I was getting those feelings, it started to tick in my head. ‘Is this the right thing, why are you doing this if this is how you feel?’ Once I said to Jase: ‘I don’t think I want to ride a bike any more,’ I started to feel relief.”
The Great Britain team performance director, Stephen Park, paid tribute to Kenny, saying: “Laura hangs up her wheels as not just one of the sport’s greatest riders, but as one of the greatest sporting talents our country has ever produced.”
“Just as impressive, however, is the impact which Laura has had on her fellow riders on the GB cycling team and the next generation of Olympic hopefuls. She has been a beacon of inspiration for so many, young and old, and I’m sure that the entire British cycling community will join me in wishing her the very best in the next chapter of her life.”
This month, Park said that Kenny had only a “slim chance” of competing at this summer’s Olympics “in a team that’s more competitive than it’s ever been”.
Kenny said the “absolute highlight” of her racing career was the 2012 Games in London. “I never thought I would go to a home Games, let alone go on to win two gold medals,” she said. “When I look back, I’m like: ‘Wow, those two weeks did really change my life.’”
Kenny, who was made a dame in the 2021 new year honours, hopes to be at this summer’s Paris Olympics in some capacity and wants to remain involved with Great Britain’s cycling team.
“There’s nothing set in stone but there are things I’m so interested in doing,” she said. “Something to help the younger generation, whether that could be some kind of academy. I could never be a coach because that’s just too much pressure for me, but maybe something in the background that would help the youngsters have the opportunities I had.”