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Katy Marchant will go into her third Olympic Games hungrier than ever as part of a revitalised Great Britain women’s sprint squad.
The 31-year-old is feeling fresh impetus ahead of Paris as, for the first time, she will go to an Olympics as part of a women’s sprint team, and one with a real chance of winning a medal.
It is a dramatic turnaround from the last two Olympic cycles, in which Britain failed to qualify for the team sprint, leaving Marchant to fly the flag alone in the individual events.
But it has served as an inspiration for Marchant as she came back from maternity leave.
“I want it more than ever,” said Marchant, who won sprint bronze in Rio but crashed out of the keirin in Tokyo.
“I feel hungrier than ever to go to this Olympics and give it absolutely everything, but I also feel like it’s all a bonus.”
Britain have come from nowhere to be among the favourites this summer. Marchant will ride with individual world champion Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell, with Lowri Thomas as the reserve rider.
The same line-up took European gold in January, and Britain have also won two Nations Cup golds this year.
“I try to say to the girls, don’t feel under pressure,” Marchant said. “We have nothing to lose. This is the first time in a long time that we’ve actually qualified for a team sprint, so we’ve been given a golden opportunity here to just go put a mark out and see what we can do.”
Marchant welcomed her son Arthur in June 2022, returning to racing the following February. When she came back, the women’s sprint department was suddenly a much busier place as a new generation arrived – but Marchant believes the fight for selection has paid dividends.
“I think that’s what’s brought me back and that’s what’s got me in the best shape that I’ve ever been in,” she said.
“I wanted to get back into the team and that itself was a huge, huge challenge.
“The girls and the strength and depth that the women’s sprint had whilst I was away, in the worst shape of my life – I love a challenge and I really wanted that challenge. I’ve had to be on my ‘A’ game every day. That’s the sole reason I am better than I’ve ever been, thanks to the girls.”
Asked if this could be her last Olympics, Marchant replied: “Never say never”.
Watching her younger team-mates – who jokingly refer to her as ‘mum’ – go through Olympic kitting out for the first time is a reminder of the privileged position they are in.
“Some people could say, a third Olympics, it must be quite everyday now,” she said. “But it never gets any less special. If anything, it’s more special. Just seeing them come and be like ‘Oh, my God, this is so cool’. I’m like ‘Oh my God, yes, it is so cool’.”
It is part of the balance that has become key at this stage in Marchant’s career. When she is not racing a bike she can often be found trundling around in a tractor, doing her bit to keep the family farm near Leeds running.
“Putting a podcast on, being on my own – or with Arthur – in the tractor, it’s just free,” Marchant said. “I love the outdoors and I love being outside. It’s just a completely different lifestyle to being an athlete. I think that’s what helps me keep really balanced.
“I keep my feet on the ground. I come home from training and there’s a shift to do on the farm. I’ve got to get up and I’ve got to do some work. It’s really good and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ll miss harvest but there’ll be a little bit left for me to do when I get back, I reckon!”
