The four-time Olympic champion on almost quitting cycling, the benefits of working with a female coach and her renewed desire to make history after the Tokyo Games were postponed
‘I do think it knocked my confidence a bit, which we’ve been working on,” Laura Kenny says as she remembers breaking a shoulder and then an arm last year just before the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Those accidents were a blow to the seemingly impregnable Kenny who appeared to be on the brink of becoming the most successful British woman athlete in Olympic history. Only Katherine Grainger has won more medals, with four silvers and a gold, but Kenny has a perfect set of four gold medals from four attempts as a track cyclist at the 2012 and 2016 Games.
She has three chances to add to her medal count in Tokyo, as she is likely to ride in the team pursuit, omnium and madison. Her husband, Jason Kenny, is tied in second place with Chris Hoy in the overall British medal table, having won six golds and one silver as a sprint cyclist. The 10 Olympic golds owned by the Kenny household surpasses the amount won by more than 100 countries in the history of the Games. While the couple’s medal hunt will continue in Tokyo, the 28-year-old Kenny admits there is much more uncertainty to her task now. She even reveals that, less than a year ago, she considered retiring.
