Laura Kenny, Britain's most decorated female Olympian, announces retirement from cycling

18 March 2024, 08:06 | Updated: 18 March 2024, 09:20

Olympic medallist, Laura Kenny, has announced her retirement from cycling ahead of being expected to compete for Team GB in Paris this summer.

Dame Laura Kenny, 31, who has won five Olympic gold medals, is to retire from professional cycling.

Ms Kenny was the first British woman to win golds at three consecutive Games after her titles at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

The champion, who gave birth to her second child last year, says "it's now time to move on" to the "next chapter".

She is married to Sir Jason Kenny - former cyclist and Britain's most decorated male Olympian.

In a tweet shared on Monday, Ms Kenny said: "Thank you cycling for everything you’ve given me - including a husband and our growing family!

"Having people say I have inspired women and girls to get active and get on a bike means the world to me.

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"Thanks to Team GB, British Cycling and all the partners who have supported my journey.

"A special thanks to every team mate I have had over the years and of course to my family for being the best support unit I could ever have wished for.

"It’s now time for the next chapter."

Kenny also had seven world titles and 14 European titles as part of a career haul of 67 medals across the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, UCI World Cups and Commonwealth Games, with 47 of them gold.

She had been expected to compete in Paris this summer.

Laura Trott was born in Harlow in 1992 a month premature with a collapsed lung.

She was diagnosed with asthma and advised to take up sport to regulate her breathing.

Her sister Emma is also a professional cyclist.