Laura Kenny

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Laura Kenny
CBE
2015 UEC Track Elite European Championships 118.JPG
Kenny at the 2015 UEC European Track Championships
Personal information
Born (1992-04-24) 24 April 1992 (age 29)
Harlow, Essex, England[1]
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[2]
Weight52 kg (115 lb)[2]
Team information
Current teamMatrix Fitness Pro Cycling
DisciplineTrack and road
Rider typeSprinter (road) / Endurance (track)
Professional teams
2012Team Ibis Cycles
2013–2014Wiggle–Honda
2015–Matrix Fitness Pro Cycling
Medal record

Laura Rebecca Kenny,[3] CBE (née Trott; born 24 April 1992) is an English track and road cyclist who specialises in the team pursuit, omnium, scratch race and madison disciplines. With six Olympic medals, having won both the team pursuit and the omnium at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and madison at the 2020 Olympics, along with a silver medal from the team pursuit at the 2020 Olympics, she is the most successful female cyclist, and the most successful British female athlete in Olympic history.[4] Her husband, Jason Kenny, holds the same records on the male side, and together they are the most successful married couple in Olympic history where both spouses have won at least one gold medal (with 12 gold and 3 silver medals between them).

Since first appearing at the European Track Championships in 2010,[5] she has won seven World Championship, a record fourteen European Championship and one Commonwealth Games titles, as part of a total of 29 medals. On the road, Kenny won the British National Road Race Championships in 2014, taking the under-23 title in the same race, and has ridden for the Matrix Fitness Pro Cycling team since 2015.

Early life[]

Laura Trott was born a month prematurely in Harlow in Essex[1] with a collapsed lung and was later diagnosed with asthma. She was advised by doctors to take up sport in order to regulate her breathing. She enjoyed and competed in trampolining but had to give up due to respiratory problems.[6][7] She grew up in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, where she attended Turnford School.[1][8][9] Her older sister Emma Trott is a former road racing cyclist.[10] She is an avid supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C.[11]

She began in the sport together with her sister when they rode alongside their mother who had taken up cycling in order to lose weight.[12]

Career[]

She won two junior titles at both the 2009 and 2010 British National Track Championships,[13] and placed third in the individual pursuit at the latter[13] to win a place in the 2010 European Track Championships team pursuit squad aged just 18.[5] After winning gold at the Euros, she went on to take her first world title at the 2011 championships, again as part of the team pursuit squad.[5] In the run-up to the 2012 Olympics she won a further two World and two European golds, in both the team pursuit and the omnium,[14] before securing her place in the Great Britain team as those events made their Olympic debut.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Trott won a gold medal in the team pursuit with Dani King and Joanna Rowsell.[15] The team set a world record time of 3:14.051 in this event.[16] Including pre-Olympics races and the Olympics final itself, in the six times they had ridden together they had broken the world record in every race.[15] She also won gold in the omnium, two days after winning gold in the team pursuit.[17][18]

For the 2012 road season, Trott joined Team Ibis Cycles,[19] though she competed in only five races.[20] 2013 saw her increase her road racing commitments with new team Wiggle Honda.[21] Her best result was a second place at the British National Road Race Championships, bringing her the under-23 title,[22] though her road racing was intended to function in service of her track preparation, rather than replacing it.[23] Trott took further World and European team pursuit gold medals at the 2013 and 2014 championships, as well as European ominium title and World ominium silver in both those years.[24] After making the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow her focus for this period,[23] she entered the games with a kidney infection and finished well down the field in the scratch race and individual pursuit.[25] Recovering as the Games progressed, she won a gold medal for England, in the points race.[26] On the road she went one better at the national road championships, winning the title for her first senior road race win.[27]

In February 2015, Trott failed to win a title at the World Championships for the first time in her career, finishing second in both the team pursuit and omnium.[28] The result was part of a poor Championships for Britain, with the team finishing without a gold for the first time since 2001.[29] Trott moved to the new Matrix Fitness Vulpine team for 2015 as a lead rider,[30] moving to the team in order to better combine her road and track cycling ambitions.[29] After a road season in which her best result was 3rd in National Championships, Trott returned won three gold medals at the 2015 European Championships, in the team pursuit, scratch race and omnium.[31] She followed this with gold medals in the scratch race and omnium at the 2016 World Championships in London, as well as a bronze in the team pursuit.[32]

Kenny (second from right) after she won the team pursuit gold at the 2016 Olympics

At the 2016 Olympics Trott was a favourite for the omnium, and with hopes of a medal in the team pursuit.[33] In the team pursuit, Great Britain took gold setting world records in the qualification and final of the tournament, defeating the American world champions in the final. This made Trott the first British woman to win three golds,[34][35] though this achievement was matched by Charlotte Dujardin the next day.[36] In the Ominium, Trott dominated from the start and finished in the top two in five of the six events, to take a comfortable gold medal and once again become Britain's most successful female Olympian.[37][38] Following the end of the track cycling competition at the games, Trott and her fiancé Jason Kenny were lauded in the British press as a 'golden couple', having won five gold medals between them in 2016, to reach a total of ten as a couple.[39][40][41]

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021, Kenny and her team-mates took the silver medal in the team pursuit: they briefly held the world record after their ride in the first round before Germany set a faster time in the next heat and secured a place in the gold medal final against Team GB. Germany broke their world record again in the final to win the gold, finishing six seconds ahead of the British team.[42] Kenny and Katie Archibald subsequently went on to become the first Olympic champions in the women's Madison with a dominant performance, winning 10 of the race's 12 sprints and gaining a lap on the field with 20 laps to go to secure a total of 78 points, more than twice the score of the second-placed Danish team. The win made Kenny the first British woman to win golds at three consecutive Olympics, the most successful female cyclist in Olympic history, eclipsing Leontien van Moorsel, and tied her with Charlotte Dujardin for the most Olympic medals won by a British female sportsperson.[4] In the omnium, Kenny's medal 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. After the closing points race she moved up from ninth place to finish sixth in the overall standings.[43] Kenny was subsequently selected as the flag bearer for the British team at the Games' closing ceremony.[44]

Personal life[]

Trott married track cyclist Jason Kenny at a private ceremony on 24 September 2016.[45] The couple live near Knutsford in Cheshire.[46] Their son Albie was born in August 2017.[47]

Honours and awards[]

Trott was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling[48][49] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours, also for services to cycling.[50] Both Laura and Jason Kenny received their CBEs on Tuesday 25 April 2017 at an Investiture in Buckingham Palace.[51]

Taken together, Laura and Jason Kenny won 12 Olympic gold medals, which places them among the most successful Olympic medalist families of all time.

She received an Honorary Degree from the University of Essex in 2013.[52]

In 2014, the former Grundy Park Leisure Centre in Cheshunt was renamed The Laura Trott Leisure Centre in her honour following a £4 million redevelopment. Trott attended the launch ahead of competing in stage four of the first Women's Tour from Cheshunt to Welwyn Garden City.[53]

Major results[]

Track[]

2008
3rd Sprint, National Junior Track Championships
2009
National Junior Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Individual pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Points race
2nd 500m TT
3rd Madison (with Hannah Mayho)
2010
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team pursuit, UEC European Track Championships
National Junior Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Individual pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500m TT
2nd Points race
2nd Scratch race
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG National Derny Championships
3rd Individual pursuit, National Track Championships
2011
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Team pursuit, UCI Track World Championships
UEC European Track Championships
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team pursuit
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Omnium
UEC European U23 Track Championships
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Individual Pursuit
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Scratch Race
1st Team Pursuit (with Katie Colclough and Dani King)
UCI Track World Cup
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit – Cali
3rd Omnium – Cali
National Track Championships
2nd Individual pursuit
2nd Points race
2nd Scratch race
3rd 500m TT
2012
Olympic Games
1st Gold medal olympic.svg Team pursuit
1st Gold medal olympic.svg Omnium
UCI Track World Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Team pursuit
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Omnium
UCI Track World Cup
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit – London
1st Gold medal blank.svg Omnium – Glasgow
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit – Glasgow
3rd Omnium – London
2013
UCI Track World Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Team pursuit
2nd Omnium
UEC European Track Championships
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team pursuit
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Omnium
UEC European U23 Track Championships
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Individual Pursuit
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Omnium
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Points Race
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Road Race, National U23 Road Championships
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Team pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Points race
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Individual pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Madison
UCI Track World Cup
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit – Manchester
1st Gold medal blank.svg Omnium – Manchester
2nd Omnium – Aguascalientes
3rd Scratch Race, Revolution – Round 1, Manchester
2014
UCI Track World Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Team pursuit
2nd Omnium
UEC European Track Championships
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team pursuit
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Omnium
1st Gold medal blank.svg Points race, Commonwealth Games
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Team pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Scratch race
2nd Individual pursuit
3rd Points race
UCI Track World Cup
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit – Guadalajara
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit – London
1st Gold medal blank.svg Omnium – London
Revolution
1st Omnium – Round 1, London
1st Points Race – Round 4, Manchester
1st Scratch Race – Round 4, Manchester
1st Omnium – Round 5, London
1st Points Race – Round 2, Manchester
3rd Scratch Race – Round 2, Manchester
1st Omnium, Fenioux Piste International
2015
UEC European Track Championships
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team pursuit
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Scratch race
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Omnium
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Individual Pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Scratch race
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Points race
Revolution
1st Omnium – Round 1, Derby
1st Points Race �� Round 2, Manchester
1st Points Race – Round 4, Glasgow
1st Points Race – Round 5, London
1st Scratch Race – Round 4, Glasgow
1st Scratch Race – Round 5, London
2nd Scratch Race – Round 1, Derby
3rd Individual Pursuit – Round 1, Derby
3rd Scratch Race – Round 6, Manchester
Grand Prix of Poland
1st Omnium[54]
1st Scratch race[55]
UCI Track World Championships
2nd Team pursuit
2nd Omnium
2nd Omnium, Internationale Radsport Meeting
2016
Olympic Games
1st Gold medal olympic.svg Team pursuit
1st Gold medal olympic.svg Omnium
UCI Track World Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Omnium
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Scratch race
3rd Team pursuit
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG National Madison Championships
Revolution
1st Points Race - Round 5, Manchester
1st Points Race - Round 6, Manchester
1st Scratch Race - Round 6, Manchester
2nd Scratch Race - Round 5, Manchester
1st Omnium, Grand Prix of Poland
1st Omnium, Fenioux Piste International
Revolution Champions League
2nd Omnium - Round 2, London
2nd Scratch Race - Round 2, London
3rd Points Race - Round 2, London
2018
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Omnium
2021
Olympic Games
1st Gold medal olympic.svg Madison (with Katie Archibald)
2nd Silver medal olympic.svg Team pursuit

Road[]

2009
2nd National Criterium Championships
2011
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Road race, National Under–23 Road Championships
2013
1st RideLondon GrandPrix
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
2014
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Road race, National Under–23 Road Championships
1st Overall Surf & Turf 2-Day
1st Stages 1, 2 & 3
2015
1st Milk Race
3rd Road race, National Road Championships

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Laura Trott golden postbox painted in Harlow by mistake". BBC News. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Athlete: Laura Kenny". london2012.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Laura Kenny". British Cycling. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Tokyo 2020: Historic win for Laura Kenny as she and Katie Archibald secure gold for Team GB". itv.com. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Webber, Luke. "2011 European Track Championships preview". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Laura Trott = About Me". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012.
  7. ^ Marsden, Sam (7 August 2012). "Laura Trott battled back from collapsed lung to Olympic gold". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  8. ^ McRae, Donald (6 February 2012). "Laura Trott sick to the stomach in pursuit of London 2012 glory". The Guardian.
  9. ^ Gold, Alasdair (4 August 2012). "18:17 Saturday 04 August 2012 Written by Alasdair Gold Trott is an Olympic champion". Hertfordshire Mercury. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014.
  10. ^ Hemmings, Mark (21 October 2010). "Trott sisters look back on Commonwealth Games experience". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  11. ^ "Laura Trott - Olympic champion, Spurs fan". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  12. ^ Kay, Vernon (14 August 2012). "interview on bbc radio". BBC radio 1. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Palmares". Laura Trott. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  14. ^ Williams, Ollie. "Laura Trott takes giant leap towards London 2012". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Olympics cycling: British women win team pursuit track gold". BBC Sport. 4 August 2012. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  16. ^ Morton, Douglas (4 August 2012). "Team GB win gold medal in women's team pursuit with world record time – Cycling – Olympics". The Independent. London. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  17. ^ Slater, Matt (4 August 2012). "Olympics cycling: Laura Trott wins omnium gold medal". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  18. ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (7 August 2012). "Laura Trott wins omnium gold for Team GB". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  19. ^ "2012 UCI Women's Teams:TEAM IBIS CYCLES (DPD) – GBR". UCI. 13 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  20. ^ "Laura Trott 2012 Season". ProCycling Stats. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  21. ^ "Laura Trott makes an aggressive Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling debut in GP Dottignies". Wiggle Honda. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  22. ^ "Armitstead takes her second title with solo move". Cycling News. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b Trott, Laura. "Laura Trott: life as a road rider is hard for my sister Emma". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  24. ^ "Track Cycling Worlds 2014: Becky James & Laura Trott win medals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  25. ^ Liew, Jonathan. "Laura Trott suffering from kidney infection at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  26. ^ Riach, James (27 July 2014). "Commonwealth Games 2014: Laura Trott wins points race gold for England". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  27. ^ Hobro, Scott. "Laura Trott wins British Cycling National Road Championships women's title in Abergavenny". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  28. ^ Cary, Tom. "Great Britain's golden girl Laura Trott has to settle for omnium silver at the Track Cycling World Championships". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b Slater, Matt. "No need to panic after Worlds gold drought - Laura Trott". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  30. ^ Hope, Nick (2 September 2014). "Laura Trott leaves Wiggle-Honda and joins Matrix Fitness Vulpine". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  31. ^ Cary, Tom. "Laura Trott to the rescue with gold medal at European Track Championships as GB riders fail to fire". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  32. ^ Fotheringham, William (6 March 2016). "Laura Trott claims second world championship gold with omnium win". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  33. ^ Smith, Frank. "Laura Trott can win gold at Rio Olympics says Sir Chris Hoy". Hertfordshire Mercury. Retrieved 17 August 2016.[permanent dead link]
  34. ^ "Laura Trott – Great Britain Cycling Team Rider Profile". Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  35. ^ York, Chris. "Britain Wins Women's Team Pursuit At Rio Olympics 2016". Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  36. ^ Hamilton, Tom (15 August 2016). "'Emotional' Dujardin overcomes nerves to make Olympic history". ESPN. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  37. ^ Windsor, Richard (16 August 2016). "Laura Trott on her dominant omnium performance: 'I didn't even feel that good'". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  38. ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: GB's Laura Trott defends omnium title to win historic fourth gold". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  39. ^ Ronay, Barney (17 August 2016). "Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and a British Olympic triumph of central planning". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  40. ^ Criddle, Cristina (17 August 2016). "Who are Jason Kenny and Laura Trott? Everything you need to know about the Rio Olympic's golden couple". The Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  41. ^ Fordyce, Tom. "Rio Olympics 2016: Laura Trott & Jason Kenny - Britain's golden couple". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  42. ^ "Olympics cycling: GB takes home silver in the men's sprint and women's pursuit". itv.com. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  43. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Jason Kenny wins seventh gold but Laura Kenny reign as omnium champion over". bbc.co.uk. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  44. ^ "Tokyo 2020: Laura Kenny to carry flag for Team GB at Olympics closing ceremony". itv.com. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  45. ^ "Jason Kenny and Laura Trott get married in secret". BBC News. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  46. ^ Fordyce, Tom (17 August 2016). "Rio Olympics 2016: Laura Trott & Jason Kenny - Britain's golden couple". BBC. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  47. ^ Ruby, Jennifer (26 September 2017). "Jason and Laura Kenny celebrate baby Albert's christening on their first wedding anniversary". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  48. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
  49. ^ "2013 New Year's Honoura" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  50. ^ "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N9.
  51. ^ "Olympic Cyclists Laura and Jason Kenny collect CBEs". Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  52. ^ "Laura Trott and Annie Lennox receive Honorary Degrees". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  53. ^ "Cheshunt's Grundy Park Leisure Centre renamed after Laura Trott ahead of Women's Tour stage four". Hertfordshire Mercury. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.[permanent dead link]
  54. ^ https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/track/GP_Poland_womens_omnium_race.pdf
  55. ^ https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/track/GP_Poland_womens_scratch_race.pdf

External links[]

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