Next up in ‘A Cut Above’, multi-award-winning hairstylist @lisafarrall invites three-time Olympic track cycling medallist Katie Archibald to the salon for a glow-up ahead of Paris 2024.
In episode two, Archibald swaps the velodrome for the stylist’s chair, revealing her hobbies and passions away from sport, her sisterhood relationship with Laura Kenny, issues with helmet hair and some of her previous signature hairstyles.
The Scot will look to achieve three straight Olympic golds at Paris 2024, following previous triumphs in the women’s team pursuit at Rio 2016 and Madison at Tokyo 2020.
SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/2lAC6Qh
WEBSITE: https://www.teamgb.com/
SHOP: https://shop.teamgb.com
FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/TeamGB
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TeamGB
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/teamgb
TIKTOK: https://tiktok.com/@TeamGB
Sign up to get the latest updates about the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: https://bit.ly/3I8kLWD
About #TeamGB:
Team GB is the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team run by the British Olympic Association. Follow Team GB on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
I’ve been messing with my hair since I was a teenager You Can’t Hide can you it says something about who you are my name is k Aral and I’m a track cyclist for team chb I dyed my entire hand green the first time that I went
With that mess around but I love my sport I wear Helm all the time I spend so much of my life with it all tied away which means it’s a privilege to go a bit nuts with it sometimes I’m Lisa faral and I am an award-winning celebrity session stylist what I’m looking forward
To the most about meeting these athletes is hearing their story we all come from different places all over the UK but what got you where you are today I want to hear about the journey and then the destination what’s next hi come on down hello so lovely to
Meet you like likewise how are you good how are you yeah let’s get you hit in here so we’re doing a big transformation today yeah new haircut New Life New Life say no more let’s get you over to get your hair washed so Google tells me you came into
Cycling quite late and your accent’s definitely not cut me so tell me about that yeah it’s always um what never feels late to you it feels like just the right time you get Riders like Laura Kenny that I think she’s been national champion in something from about age six
But and it start racing till I 16 and your first gold medal how was that what was that feeling like that Rush that excitement how did you celebrate do you get flow as a hairdresser um like riff and flow like you know like if you hear people talk
About being in a state of flow a flow State no I mean maybe in yoga with sport it’s only happened to me very rarely I can probably count on one hand these uh these sort of almost religious experiences that you have of just being totally removed from the world and that
Was what the the Rio final was like for me it was like a really a very kind of defining moment of just really emptying everything into this one physical performance that has such an emotional attachment to it Great Britain are going to bring this home it’ll be another gold medal for
Great Britain in a new world record time and I would would recommend if you uh ever get a chance to get an Olympic start line um yeah a boy bike give it a start at 35 I don’t know get the insurance my bike terrifies me traveling with
It yeah so it’s a hope Lotus bike Lotus is this famous bike that Chris bourman Road that’s kind of Infamous in the cycling Community have you like had injuries like is you going so fast yeah my brother he really hates watching the racing cuz he just can’t handle the
Crashes but when you’re actually in it when you’re in the melee you only have to deal with the sort of the circle that surrounds you and and it’s much less stressful than having to watch everybody else and I bet you can’t even think about it cuz if you think about it psych
Yourself out right like when you’re when you’re in a stand ready to go up and everyone’s got big headphones on a lot of it it’s not they’re trying to Hype themselves up with the music you just trying to escape the the stressful world that’s going on on the outside and do
You find support from like family your teammates like how do you deal with that yeah my my mom loves coming to all the races actually she’s um I’m such a horrible daughter you know sometimes if I don’t think it’s gone well she’ll be really nice and she’ll be like oh D you
Were fantastic and I’m like Mom I just I wasn’t though like like I was literally seven why you lying yeah what are you lying for say I come fourth weever and she’ll be like ah tough lines and I’ll be like what are you talking about I
Think I did really well and she was like you’re always cruelest of the people that you love aren’t you 100% and moms are always the ones that get it cuz they the ones that are supporting you all the time mhm so whereabouts in Scotland are you from tell me about your exent like
Um yes I’m from M which is uh it’s right at the start of the West Highland Way I love it all uh and I’ve Loved all that we’ve had quite a few major events in my home track in Glasgow and it’s my favorite venue but it’s not actually my
Favorite track like the track itself is quite harsh it’s got like harsh transitions it’s quite steep it’s uh it’s it’s fun and that it’s aggressive but it’s not always the fastest it’s quite a big deal the kind of the patriotism that’s attached to Sport and especially because Chris ho is such an
Icon of track cycling for us the pride of having that emblem as as as a Scot and as a track cyclist and and the fact that he really carries the image that you have of him as a national hero is totally accurate like you know you’re
Not me to meet your Heroes and all that and anytime I’ve spent time with Chris Hoy he’s just the most kind of gracious open interesting thoughtful character and to be connected to to him through this Sport and um through MetaBank which is the track that we both started track
Cycling on I know it feels quite cool to me it feels quite special so obviously cycling is a huge part of your life what do you do to like wind down I know you’re a keen writer yeah I’m trying to stop myself winding down on quite such public
Platforms I think that’s sometimes you get yourself in a knot um certainly my dad gets annoyed that I’ve uh detailed so much of my private life in a cycl weekly colum um but I really yeah I really love writing I really love the high that you get I am just a bit guilty
Of going down the odd Rabbit Hole um EX in a sort of excitable way and only realizing you know 500 Words deep that maybe this isn’t as revolutionary as you thought it was and where do you get like your inspiration to write so it’s all really been open to me through cycling
So most of the time it’s about the sport about life in sport about the kind of insights that you get yeah just the life that goes on at these different venues and I was in you know I was in Paris last weekend realizing how many of these different bathroom stalls I’d cried in
You know and in contrast I’m racing in London this weekend and which I’m going to look very smart for very excited and can’t believe you’re going to put a helmet on to be honest I know it’s outrageous isn’t it but London’s one of those venues that I’ve just got so many
Uh like sometimes the happy memories make me sad of you know there’s like a tinge of what’s what’s been in the past and won’t be there in the future but I just have so many good memories from times at London vome and the like bone shaking noise of the crowd that always
Turns up to that venue yeah something pretty special so you and Laura Kenny you’ve got a Sisterhood romance tell me about that have you got any funny stories all the ones um everything’s funny with Laura she’s uh just yeah very giggly um she’s superb at getting something if you need
It because she’s got that fantastic smile on her face and people don’t realize that she’s saying something actually quite demanding you know but I I love pun mate it’s always like a good atmosphere when you’ve got someone that just wants to mess around but we’re kind
Of at the far end of uh she does everything hypers speed and I’m usually dragging my feet so it’s either ying and yang or we’re quite different people and that will cause issues at times but so far it’s always led to success so it must be the right Balance oh how does that feel what a transformation yeah that feels absolutely fabulous that does feel good yeah feel very good banging nothing else to say but get on your back thank you very much see you later to see you byebye I feel fantastic I mean we’ve all
Had a bit of a laugh and something feels really good about the the confidence you get from being spruced up I was trying really hard not to overreact when I had my head massaged and I was just like just play it cool don’t make it weird
But that was fantastic so yeah I’ve had a really nice time