ffirst day in Birmingham 2022 and I’m in… London. Obv. Birmingham doesn’t have an indoor cycling track (a pain point, and one that a small but dedicated group of campaigners has been trying to correct for five years), track cycling takes place at the Olympic velodrome in Stratford.
What it does mean is that, 10 years after watching Laura Kenny (Trott, as she was then) win gold in the women’s team pursuit here in London 2012, I will be looking back at her going for Commonwealth Gold today as part of a English quartet.
Kenny, who made his name at those Games, is now, of course, Britain’s most successful female Olympian. She’s also by far the biggest name here, especially as GB teammates and fellow Olympic champions Katie Archibald (injury) and Elinor Barker (road race after giving birth in spring) are missing for Scotland and Wales respectively. Also since her husband Jason Kenny, the six-time Olympic champion, has retired and is now part of British Cycling’s coaching staff.
It’s hard to say how things will turn out today. When we spoke earlier this week, Kenny said she had no idea. It is not often that the GB squad splits into teams from home countries. Kenny said she just wanted to enjoy the opportunity after a horrific winter where she had a miscarriage followed by an ectopic pregnancy.
“It put a lot of things in perspective,” she said. “I was really really bad and just seeing Jason, the way he was around me made me realize I was going to put my family under so much stress. Of course I didn’t mean to, but I think it made us realize that cycling is one thing, but life is another.
“It brought us back to Earth with a huge thud, but it made you think ‘why am I doing this?’
“I enjoy it, which is why I do it, and it made me realize that more than ever.”
Kenny, who will also be competing in the scratch race and the points race this weekend, added: “I feel so relaxed about the whole situation. I don’t know if it’s because I never really thought the Commonwealth Games had a goal, because we were planning on having another little one now but i feel more relaxed than ever it almost brings more joy im so excited to just be in front of a home crowd again coz you dont get it that often especially in London.”