When you think of British sporting icons, names like Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliffe, Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton, and Nicola Adams often come to mind. Standing tall among these legends is track cyclist Dame Laura Kenny, a six-time Olympic medallist, with five of those medals being gold.
Born and raised in Essex, Kenny began cycling when her mother took up the sport to lose weight. Little did they know that, by the time of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Laura would become one of the nation’s heroes, winning two gold medals in the omnium and team pursuit in her Olympic debut. Kenny’s success at the London Olympics was only the beginning of her remarkable career. She continued her dominance on the track at the 2016 Rio Olympics, defending both her Olympic golds from 2012 and cementing herself as Britain’s most successful female Olympian.
“My career highlight is London 2012, it was on a home track and I grew up so close to that velodrome. The team pursuit has always had my heart and that was the event that came first. As cliché as it is, the only thing I ever wanted was to be Olympic champion so to do it there, at my first Olympics, there was never going to be anything that topped that,” Kenny smiles.
In 2017, Kenny and her husband, fellow track cyclist Jason Kenny, welcomed their son, Albie. Yet motherhood did not slow her down. Determined to push even further, Kenny entered the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as both a mother and elite-level athlete. She made history once again, winning gold in the first-ever women's Madison race alongside Katie Archibald, and securing a silver medal in the women’s team pursuit.
Her record-breaking success lies beyond the Olympics, too. She held the World Championship title in the team pursuit for four consecutive years from 2011 to 2014 and also won the world title in the women’s omnium in 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Overall, Kenny has won 63 medals at UCI World Championships, UEC European Championships, UCI World Cups, Olympic and Commonwealth Games – she even has a British National Road Race Championships title in her glittering palmarès, beating teammates Dani Rowe and Lizzie Deignan in 2014.
“I would hope people remember me for maintaining success. I think I underestimated that as an athlete, to actually stay at the top over three Olympic cycles is quite hard and the fact that I was able to do that is impressive,” Kenny says. “I hope there are lots of female riders getting on bikes in the next generation because I went on TV and did an interview. I hope that lots of people are inspired to ride bikes because of what we've done.”
In recognition of her contribution to sport and cycling, Kenny received a Damehood in the 2022 New Years Honours List.. But 2022 was a year that Kenny had to overcome challenges too; she shared on social media that she had had a miscarriage just nine months before winning gold at the Commonwealth Games, and that she had an ectopic pregnancy that ended in emergency surgery. Kenny used her platform to spread the message to other people that losing a baby is nothing to be ashamed of, and that no woman or man should be left to feel alone during this time – a message she continues to share today through her work as an ambassador for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.
In 2023, Laura, Jason and Albie welcomed another member to their family – Monty. Kenny retired from professional cycling in March 2024, focussing on spending time with her family.
The British rider notes how different the sport is since she hung her wheels up earlier this year: “The positions have changed massively since I started and even since I retired. The speed which people now go and the positions they can mould themselves into has taken a huge step forward. The whole development of the sport has taken a huge step forward.”
She believes that the sport needs to continue to strive towards gender parity in order to keep track cycling developing: “The next World Championships is the first time we have parity across the board in terms of length of timed events. The Madison still isn’t the same length, and I’m not sure if that’s a step forward to match the men’s race, but I think that we could meet in the middle in terms of distance to make things equal,” Kenny says.
“Also the development of riders needs to continue, we’re celebrating 20 years of the Academy and without the Academy and even the systems underneath that, you don’t get gold medal winners as there’s no bike riders. It’s that continued growth of the younger generation coming through as those winning now aren’t going to last forever, you need to keep everything moving.”
Kenny didn’t just win medals – she captured the hearts of the nation from her Olympic debut at just 20 years old. Today, she remains one of Britain’s most beloved athletes, inspiring generations with her resilience, dedication, and enduring success. In celebration of her contribution to the sport, the 32-year-old was recently inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame, an honour she admits is special among her career achievements.
“I remember seeing the photos of the Hall of Fame around Manchester Velodrome ever since I’ve been going there,” she smiles. “I was there the other day looking at everybody and when I got the email the other day to say I was being inducted, I was delighted. You feel like your career is being recognised and that means a lot that people notice what you’ve done. I feel like I’ve been part of the British Cycling family forever so for them to recognise it, that’s a lovely feeling.”
