Laura Kenny explains her decision to retire from cycling four months before Paris 2024 Olympics

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Britain’s most decorated female Olympian Laura Kenny explained that the “emotional sacrifice” of leaving her children is what led her to retire from cycling.

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So here we go um I I’ve got to admit I don’t know what to call you your highness Dame Laura and I’m go what do you prefer just call me Laura Laura that’s marvelous um wonderful to see thanks so much for coming in to see us

Uh I’ve read a lot about your what do you want to call it retirement um yeah yeah I think it is retirement yeah it’s not like an end like I’m not disappearing like yesterday lots of people were like oh we’re going to miss you and I’m like I’m not going anywhere

Like please don’t see this as an end it’s just that chapter’s finished yeah this is part of the next bit so I’ve I’ve read a lot about kind of your decisions but for people who haven’t explained why you made this decision now well so the sacrifice of the children at

Home really it has to be worth it when I had Albi I was totally fully committed to going to another Olympic Games and I really wanted to win another gold medal and I was 100% in whereas this time having Monty it’s just really changed my mind mindset and it just the sacrifice

Now is too big for me yeah it’s because it is not just physical it’s emotional as well I would think yeah for sure and I mean honestly the last year before the Commonwealth Games was just the hardest um kind of mental strength I’ve ever had

To dig deep upon myself you know what I mean and it was just really exhausting and it’s been a really draining year that it’s just yeah the emotional sacrifice of leaving them is too I can’t do it like the fear feeling it gives me is horrible yeah because I I guess to be

An elite athlete and you Elite of elite athletes you have it has to be almost kind of a selfish part in there oh 100% selfish you are you are as an athlete you have to be I don’t think that you can get success if you’re not fully in

You know what I mean like it can be anything from not wanting to go to birthday parties of people or not wanting to drive to go and see someone because my training session at the time is more important and you are like that I’ve lived like that for like the last 12 years

Obviously fans of yours will have their standout moments but I’m interested in what you think your most memorable moments were well London 2012 nothing beats the home games I just everyone said that to me that if you go to the home Olympics it will always be your

Standout and it happened to be my first and so for me that first gold medal in the team Pursuit along with Danny and Joanna is just my stand out my by Miles could you because I was thinking about it could you actually enjoy it the because you’re so focused yeah and you

Got to peek at just the right time and everything is on that could you Savor that moment as it happened or is it only looking back that you no I think because I was young I think everything was fun like literally the whole process was fun

Like just so much as getting into the V the whole thing started in 2010 when when I first got invited onto the senior program and I walked into the vome and Sir Chris comes up to me and he’s like hey I’m Chris and I remember being like

Oh wow like I’m accepted already and from that moment onwards the whole thing was just fun and I enjoyed every minute of it that atmosphere I was just there watching and and it kind of blew me away so to be there competing it must have been oh

Just phenomen unable yeah it was and I mean the Vel Drome is brilliant for that because obviously it’s got a roof isn’t it so the more people shout like the noises contained and it was just yeah it was just incredible that whole Buzz around the kind of place was was it

Was does does it see when you watch pictures back of it now yeah does it does it feel almost like an out of body experience or can you remember what you were thinking at that moment and no no I don’t think I can well the only memory

In the race in the team Pursuit that I have you you get told never to look across because obviously we race side by side don’t we as much as we’re going around you you’re side by side really and if you look across sometimes you can see the other team and I remember

Changing and looking across and being like we’re winning and that’s the only memory that I really have and then yeah we won obviously and then I can I’ve put myself back to the podium but lots of the other stuff yeah it’s almost like I’m above someone else’s life yeah will

It be strange watching this coming Olympics no like people have asked me that and I don’t think so I think because I’ve been out of it obviously being pregnant with my second boy I I’ve been out of it a while now like I’ve watched the World Championships I’ve

Watched the Nations cups I think cuz I’ve watched them I already feel sort of out of it I’ve had I’ve already experienced the missing out you know what I mean so I don’t I don’t think so yeah do do you ever watch go well I wouldn’t do that or God they’ve done

That it’s hard to just watch it as a like an outsider you know what I mean I do that I will watch it back and be like oh I wouldn’t I’d have done I’d have done half less because obviously we work in half I would been like oh no I i’

Changed earlier it is hard to just watch it as they’re winning or losing yeah yeah are there any team GB cyclists we should be looking out for in Paris well Emma finane definitely I think she could be the first female to win three gold medals yeah like she’s young she’s only

I think she’s 20 20 she’s either 21 or 22 I think she’s 21 actually you know and she is um a really young hopeful for sure I mean they just came back from the second to last we’ve got one more qualifying event just come back um from

The qualifying event in Hong Kong and she won all three Olympic events so I think she could be the one to watch out for is there a part of you that cuz in 2012 you were not that you’re I’m not saying you’re old now oh my goodness I’m

Must be old I’m retired I’m 60 I mean you were very young at 2012 yeah yeah I mean I was 20 yeah but she could do it again like you know what mean she could be the next one to do that yeah what what does the future look like for you

Um I mean honestly I am I would get my hands stuck into anything I I will try anything I been enjoying doing this sort of thing like the media side of thing because obviously as an athlete it’s funny you get your maternity leave when you’re pregnant because obviously once

They’re out you can go on to train and so I’ve had a period of time that I’ve already been stepped away doing Media stuff I really enjoy that um and then giving back to my sport too is hugely important to me so will you be in Paris

Well I mean well hope so um but obviously I don’t know yet but I would I’d like to be there yeah and do you ever sort of get your bicycle out with a little wicker basket on the front cycle down the shops I mean Jason actually

Goes everywhere on his I mean I don’t really no mainly because I’ve got two kids in toe most of the time sort of have the kids sort of on on one of those Traders on the back and cycle through the well so Alby can he can ride cuz

He’s six but he hates it he doesn’t like riding his bike doesn’t he so no that’s kind of put a stop to our nice picturesque family bike right do you do you is is there a part there must be a part of you that never actually wants to see a bicycle again no

I I always wanted to retire Still Loving my Sport and I can sit here today and say I still love my sport because it has been an in Incredible Journey from for you you sort of took up sport to try and with the asthma and and all of that so

It’s been it it never was supposed to be but it was no no yeah and I mean it’s been part of my life forever like literally forever for as long as I can really remember um cuz obviously I started when I was eight as much as like obviously I had the whole born

Prematurely then I got asthma there was lots of things that kind of were in the process but it wasn’t until I was eight that we started riding bikes and then from that moment onwards it’s been part of my life forever can you remember that first bike ride then and going actually

I quite like this I can remember pretty good at this no no cuz it wasn’t like that initially no so I can remember the time I learned to ride a bike I was five my sister was seven and she broke her leg that day yeah so she I learned

Because my dad was having to obviously push me along while carrying my sister and basically I just I had no choice but learn because I was riding home and he was carrying her so I can remember that and then the first time getting on a road bike the reason I can remember that

Is because I was on this beautiful perso which my mom and dad have still got right and my sister was a bit jealous cuz her first bike was a secondhand bike and my dad had bought me this cuz I was Tiny bought me this really small perso

And we’re descending down this hill in chant and my hands were killing me because obviously it’s different holding a road bik brakes to a mountain bike and I just let go but for an 8-year-old you don’t know the rules of the road yeah and my mom just goes go that way cuz

I’ve gone flying past her and I start going down the one with the oncoming traffic and she’s like turn and so I just turned and I crashed into like the metal barrier that stops the cars if they have a crash hitting pedestrians and I just crashed into it and I

Remember thinking this is awful like I don’t don’t want to do this but then it was the whole sibling rivalry is what kept me in there my sister loved it her and my dad loved it and then once we started doing races I really wanted to

Beat my sister and then that was it really we had so that’s what it was all about yeah yeah we had that for my whole career but I mean it the speeds you go at yeah when you’re competing these are do do have you ever been going around

And thinking actually if if I make one tiny mistake here at this speed it’s going to hurt um no if if you’ve thought like that you wouldn’t do it like there’s no way that you ever think about crashes at all the only time I’ve ever thought that is Katy archal and me were

Trying to hit 100 kilometers an hour going down Mount tedi because obviously it’s a humongous Hill it’s a volcano and we were coming down it and uh I I was just like we could do it we could do it like should we lead each other out and

She was just like get on my wheel so I’m sprinting ridiculously fast down this hill and we hit 100K out that was actually a career highlight I was well happy I’ve never gone that far bet everyone around he’s no no no so you said Alby doesn’t like cycling no

He say it hurts I mean it does hurt it’s not most comfortable sport yeah no you’re right there yeah yeah but the genetic makeup of Alby he’s got to be gold medalist in something surely because would never force it I would love him to be involved in sport because sport gave me

Confidence so like when I was at school I was really like in myself I wouldn’t ever if someone we were actually talking about this in the car on the way over if someone said you read this out I’d be like I do not want to stand up and read

That out but when you put me in the sporting world tell me to go and sit in a meeting and tell someone what to do I can do it and I can I can hold my own and if I had an opinion on my training I would stand there and I would absolutely

Like my case sport gave me that sport gave me confidence so that’s what I want Alby to do I would love him to be involved in it to give him that to give him that confidence but I would never be a pushy parent I actually get really put

Off by it um and I know this is a football show and everyone’s going to hate me saying this but I take Alby to football and the the things I hear parents shout at six and seven year olds literally breaks my heart no yeah yeah

No I I I know exactly what you’re saying there yes because kids should be kids at that age and so it does I stand there and I’m like oh or hurtling down a hill in chess not knowing which side of the that yeah your mom shouting break yeah

Yeah that’s it’s been an absolute pleasure