Take2 weeks ago
Marchant retires at her peak, not past it
Katy Marchant has announced her retirement from track cycling, ending a 13-year career with Great Britain Cycling Team as reigning Olympic team sprint champion. She leaves not because the form ran out, but because she decided against the sacrifices needed to chase the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. «I just don't want to make those choices anymore to keep doing what it takes to get to LA.»
What this means
Great Britain Cycling Team's team sprint squad loses one of the three riders who won gold in world record time at Paris 2024, ahead of any push toward Los Angeles 2028.
The doubt started at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, months after the birth of her second son, Walter, where she and Sophie Capewell and Rhianna Parris-Smith took silver in the team sprint — her last race. She told Emma Finucane at the time: «If this is the last day that I'm racing ever, I want to flipping enjoy it, and I want you to enjoy it with me.» That she could still think that way, mid-race, is the point — this wasn't a fade-out, it was a rider stepping away while she still had a say in how it ended. She retires as Olympic champion in the team sprint with Finucane and Capewell, a title won in world record time at Paris 2024. «I've achieved more than I could have ever dreamed of achieving.»
Sources
'I just don't want to make those choices anymore' – Olympic champion track sprinter Katy Marchant retires"I've achieved more than I could have ever dreamed of": Olympic champion Katy Marchant calls time on decorated 13-year track cycling career'I've achieved more than I could have ever dreamed' – Olympic champion Katy Marchant retires from track cyclingsports.yahoo.com
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