Laura Kenny

2013–2016 Kenny joined the Wiggle Honda team in 2013 and in her first start for the team, she finished fourth at the GP Dottignies in Belgium. She also recorded a second-place finish at the British National Road Race Championships, which secured her the British under-23 title.

In 2013, Kenny won a world title in the team pursuit at the Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk, as well as finishing in second place in the omnium. In July, she was crowned the champion in both the individual pursuit and the points race at the 2013 Junior/U23 European Track Championships, beating her British teammate Elinor Barker to gold in both disciplines. In September, Kenny won four national titles, triumphing in the team pursuit, pursuit, points race and the madison. In the 2013–14 Track Cycling World Cup, Kenny was part of the same British quartet who again broke the team pursuit world record, this time in Manchester, setting a time of 4:19.604. She also went on to claim the omnium title in Manchester, before claiming silver in the omnium at the next leg of the series in Aguascalientes.

Kenny won gold in the team pursuit at the 2014 Track Cycling World Championships, and she later collected a silver in the omnium. She then competed for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. At the start of the competition, she was still suffering from a kidney infection and she finished out of the medal places in both the scratch race and the individual pursuit. Kenny recovered as the Games progressed, and she claimed a gold medal after triumphing in the points race. She was victorious at the national road championships, finishing ahead of King and Lizzie Armitstead, and she stated afterwards that her win was "up there with winning a world championships." Returning to the track, Kenny won gold in both the team pursuit and the omnium at the European Track Championships in Guadeloupe. In the 2014–15 Track Cycling World Cup, Kenny was part of the British quartet that triumphed in the team pursuit at the events in Guadalajara and London. Additionally, she claimed gold in the omnium in London.

In February 2015, Kenny failed to win a title at the World Championships for the first time in her career, finishing second in both the team pursuit and the omnium. The result was part of a disappointing Championships for Great Britain, with the team finishing without a gold for the first time since 2001. She signed as a lead rider for the Matrix Fitness Vulpine team for her road racing that year, moving to the team in order to better combine her road and track cycling aspirations. Kenny also claimed gold in the omnium at the 2015–16 Track Cycling World Cup event in Cali, winning the event by fifty-three points.

At the beginning of 2016, Kenny won gold in the omnium and a silver in the scratch race at the Track Cycling World Cup event in Hong Kong. She followed this with gold medals in the scratch race and the omnium at the 2016 World Championships in London, as well as a bronze in the team pursuit.

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Kenny competed for medals in both the team pursuit and the omnium. In the team pursuit, Great Britain, featuring Kenny, Barker, Rowsell and Katie Archibald took gold, defeating the American world champions in the final with a world record time of 4:10.236. This made Kenny the first British woman to win three golds, though this achievement was matched by Charlotte Dujardin the next day. In the Omnium, Kenny finished in the top two in five of the six events, to secure her second gold medal of the games and again become Britain's leading female Olympian in terms of gold medals won. Following the end of the track cycling competition at the games, she and her fiancé Jason Kenny were described in the British press as the 'golden couple', having won five gold medals between them at the 2016 games. At the end of the year, she was a nominee for the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, and she was also awarded Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year.

2017–2024 After giving birth in August 2017, Kenny returned to training in January 2018. In March she was part of the team pursuit line-up that finished in silver position at the World Track Cycling Championships in Apeldoorn. The following August, at the European Track Championships in Glasgow, Kenny won gold medals in both the team pursuit and the elimination race. She then won six gold medals later in the year in the 201819 Track Cycling World Cup series. In Milton, she triumphed in both the team pursuit and omnium, before winning the team pursuit and madison (with Emily Nelson) in Berlin. Kenny took part in the madison as a replacement after Archibald had crashed in an earlier event. Kenny then added two further golds in London, one as part of the team pursuit, and another in the madison alongside Archibald.

Kenny won a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the 2019 Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków. She was scheduled to compete in the omnium later on, but was forced to withdraw due to an illness. At the European Track Championships, she claimed her 13th career European gold medal with victory in the team pursuit, as well as securing silver medals in both the omnium and the madison. In November, Kenny took part in the Track Cycling World Cup meeting in Minsk. She finished runner-up in the madison (with Nelson) and she also finished third in the omnium.

In January 2020, Kenny broke her shoulder during a crash in the omnium at the Track Cycling World Cup event in Milton. Earlier in the event, she and Neah Evans won gold in the madison. She decided not to have surgery in order to compete at the following month's World Track Cycling Championships. A surgeon had told her that surgery would probably prevent her from competing in the scheduled Olympics that summer. At the World Championships in Berlin, she won a silver medal as a member of the British squad that finished second in the team pursuit. Kenny competed in a heat but didn't take part in the final. She then finished twelfth in the omnium. The Olympics were then postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, Kenny won three medals at the European Track Championships in Plovdiv. She claimed a gold medal in the team pursuit, a silver in the omnium and a bronze in the madison (with Barker).

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kenny won a silver medal in the team pursuit. Great Britain had briefly held the world record (4:06.748) after their ride in the first round, before Germany set a faster time in their heat. Germany broke the world record again in the final, finishing six seconds ahead of the British team, featuring Kenny, Archibald, Evans and Josie Knight. Kenny and Archibald then became the first ever Olympic champions in the women's madison, winning 10 of the race's 12 sprints and gaining a lap on the field to secure a total of 78 points, more than twice the score of the second-placed Danish team. After their success, Kenny said: "I have never wanted to win a race so badly in my life." She also became the first British woman to win five Olympic gold medals during her career. Kenny then competed in the omnium, chasing a third medal of the games, but her hopes suffered a setback in the opening scratch race when she was involved in a multi-rider crash on the penultimate lap. She went on to win the tempo race but could only finish 13th in the elimination race, finishing sixth in the overall standings. Kenny was chosen to be the flag bearer for Great Britain at the closing ceremony.

In April 2022, Kenny teamed up with Evans to win the British National Madison Championships. Later that month, she was part of the British team that finished second in the team pursuit at the Track Nations Cup in Glasgow. At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she secured her first gold medal in the competition since 2014 with success in the scratch race. It was her second medal of the games, after also winning a bronze medal in the team pursuit. She also finished 13th in the points race and said that prior to her gold medal earlier in the Games she had told her husband that it might be her final race. The year had seen her suffer personal loss in her private life with Kenny stating that she had "lost her spark" and motivation to train. However, in early March 2024, she had not returned to training, and the performance director of British Cycling, Stephen Park, cast doubt on her participation. On 18 March 2024 (four months before the Olympics), she announced her retirement from cycling. She ended her career with five Olympic gold medals and one silver, her five gold medals being an all-time record for a female British Olympian. Later in the year, she was the ambassador for the Unsung Hero Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the year Awards.

Kenny was named Commonwealth Games England president in March 2025, becoming the youngest person to hold the role.

Personal life

She married fellow track cyclist Jason Kenny on 24 September 2016 at a private ceremony in Macclesfield. Fellow Olympic gold medallist and teammate Dani Rowe (née King) was one of the bridesmaids. In 2016, the couple lived near Knutsford in Cheshire, and their first son was born in August 2017. In November 2021, she suffered a miscarriage at nine weeks, and in January 2022, she underwent surgery due to an ectopic pregnancy. Their second son was born in July 2023. In December 2024, another pregnancy was announced, and she gave birth to a daughter in May 2025. As a married couple, they share a record 15 Olympic medals, where both spouses are Olympic gold medalists. She is a supporter of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur, and ran the London Marathon in April 2026.

Honours and awards

Kenny was appointed an OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours, and was later made a CBE in the 2017 New Year Honours, for services to cycling. Both she, and her husband received their CBE insignia on 25 April 2017 at an investiture in Buckingham Palace. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours, again for services to cycling. Her husband was knighted in the same list, also for services to cycling. They were both invested at Windsor Castle on 17 May 2022.

The Royal Mail promised to paint a postbox gold in the hometown of every British gold medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but they wrongly painted a postbox in Harlow, where she was born, instead of Cheshunt which she considers her home town. A second postbox was then painted gold to rectify the mistake.

In 2012, she was given the freedom of the borough of Broxbourne, and in 2013, she was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of Essex. In 2014, the Grundy Park Leisure Centre in Cheshunt was renamed The Laura Trott Leisure Centre in recognition of her achievements.

In 2024, Kenny was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame. In 2025, she was named UK Sportswoman of the 21st Century in a poll held by BBC 5 Live Breakfast.

Career achievements Major results Sources:

Track 2008 British National Junior and Youth Track Championships 1st Under-16 Girls Scratch 2nd Under-16 Girls Sprint 2nd Junior 500 m time trial 2010

British National Junior and Youth Track Championships

British National Track Championships 3rd Madison (with Harriet Owen) 3rd Individual pursuit 2011

UEC European Track Championships

UEC European Under-23 Track Championships

2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cali

British National Track Championships 2nd Individual pursuit 2nd Points race

2nd Individual pursuit 3rd Points race 2014–15 UCI Track Cycling World Cup

2015

UEC European Track Championships

British National Track Championships

Grand Prix of Poland 1st Omnium 1st Scratch UCI Track World Championships

2016 Olympic Games

UCI Track World Championships

2015–16 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Hong Kong

2018 2nd Team pursuit, UCI World Championships UEC European Track Championships

2018–19 UCI Track Cycling World Cup

2nd Madison (with Ellie Dickinson) 2019 2nd Team pursuit, UCI World Championships 2019–20 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Minsk

1st Stages 1, 2 & 3 2015 3rd Road race, National Road Championships