Team GB and Toyota release the latest episode of docuseries The Journey in which Dame Laura Kenny, reveals her ambition to compete in her fourth Olympic Games next year, following the recent birth of her second son.
Dame Laura Kenny credit Toyota
Speaking in the episode, Laura, who is a Toyota ambassador, says: “I obviously want to compete at the next Olympics. I know everyone thinks I’m absolutely mad in saying that, but if I don’t try, I’ll never know. I would hate to be sat here thinking, ‘Well, I never even gave it a go to see if I could make it.’
“I hope both children see their mum as someone who was determined to make both things work. They will never have the burden of thinking, ‘Oh, mum had me and then ended her career.’ Because I didn’t. I carried on; I made it work. I hope they look back and they can see that, and see that from the day they were born, they were part of the journey.”
Laura made her Olympic debut at London 2012, where she won her first two gold medals, before claiming her third and fourth at Rio 2016. She gave birth to her first son in 2017 and made a comeback to land her fifth Olympic title at Tokyo 2020, along with a silver medal in the team pursuit.
But after Tokyo, Laura was to face heartbreak before finally welcoming her second son earlier this year.
“Having an ectopic pregnancy was way worse than the miscarriage,” Laura recalls. “It all happened so fast. I went to hospital thinking I had severe covid, and left just like, ‘What the hell?’ Having had a major operation when I didn’t know I was pregnant. It was all terrifying really. I struggled massively mentally after everything that we went through, and I’d say I probably wasn’t truly happy until I fell pregnant with Monty.”
“The two different comebacks between Albie and Monty have been so different,” she adds.
“With Albie I came back feeling like I had a point to prove, that you could be a mum and be an Olympic champion all at the same time. I think this time, I’ve come back for me. I’ve come back because I love riding my bike and I cannot imagine it not being part of my life.”
Epsiode two of The Journey featuring Laura Kenny will be live on Team GB’s YouTube channel from Monday 27 November 2023 here.
The four episodes of docuseries The Journey, created by Team GB and Toyota, bring fans inside the lives of four athletes on their journey to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The first episode features the story of breaker Roxy Milliner aka B-Girl Roxy, while subsequent episodes will focus on double Commonwealth gold medal-winning diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, and reigning Commonwealth and World Champion gymnast Giarnni Regini-Moran.