Dame Laura Kenny: champion cyclist and Britain's most successful female Olympian announces retirement from sport

Dame Laura Kenny, Britain's most successful female Olympian, has announced her retirement from cycling.

The 31-year-old revealed her decision in an interview with BBC Breakfast. Kenny, who was Laura Trott before her marriage to fellow cyclist Sir Jason Kenny, said: "I always knew deep down I would know when was the right time. I have had an absolute blast but now is the time for me to hang that bike up."

Dame Laura won five Olympic gold medals in her career, with her total medal haul making her the most successful female British Olympic athlete of all time. She also won seven World Championships throughout her career.

The celebrated sportswoman, who shot to fame at the London 2012 Olympics, had initially been targeting a spot at the Olympics in Paris this summer. However, Dame Laura, who gave birth to her second child in July 2023, revealed: "It's been in my head a little while, the sacrifices of leaving the children and your family at home is really quite big and it really is a big decision to make.

"More and more, I was struggling to do that. More people asking me what races was I doing, what training camps was I going on - I didn't want to go ultimately and that's what it came down to. I knew the minute I was getting those feelings. Once I said to Jase, 'I don't think I want to ride a bike any more', I started to feel relief."

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She added that while she does not plan to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games, she still hopes to be at the event "in some capacity". Dame Laura said: "There's nothing set in stone but there are things I'm so interested in doing.

"Something to help the younger generation, whether that could be some kind of academy. I could never be a coach because that's just too much pressure for me, but maybe something in the background that would help the youngsters have the opportunities I had."