Commonwealth Games: Laura Kenny reveals she considered quitting cycling after miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 26/07/2022 at 10:19 GMT
Laura Kenny has said that the support of her husband, Jason, encouraged her to continue cycling after being left at "breaking point". The five-time Olympic gold medallist revealed in April that she had miscarried in November and had a fallopian tube removed in January. The 30-year-old will compete in three events at the Commonwealth Games.
‘Oh my goodness!’ – Laura Kenny excels in points race but Valente seals omnium gold
Laura Kenny has revealed that she considered walking away from cycling after being left at "breaking point" by a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist revealed in April that she had miscarried at nine weeks last November, and was forced to have a fallopian tube removed in January after a fertilised egg implanted itself outside of the womb.
Ahead of her return to the track at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Kenny has said that she was ready to quit the sport at the start of the year.
However support from her husband, Jason, convinced her to continue, with Kenny describing cycling as "a safe place".
“I felt like nothing was going our way at all,” said Kenny. “January was a tipping point, I was at breaking point.
"Without Jason, I think I’d have just canned everything and just gone, ‘You know what, I can’t even cope with doing any of this [cycling]’.
"But I grabbed for my safety blanket and decided I needed to ride my bike again.
"That’s what I’ve done for the last 13 years. It feels like a safe place.”
Kenny secured gold in the Madison and a silver in the team pursuit at Tokyo 2020 last summer as her husband became Great Britain's most decorated Olympian.
The 30-year-old gave birth to their first child, son Albie, in 2017.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/12/04/3266068-66838628-2560-1440.png)
‘I’m going to wipe her out!’ – Laura teaches Orla to ride in a velodrome
The cycling events at the Commonwealth Games will be held on the London Velopark track on which Kenny won her first two Olympic golds a decade ago.
Kenny is relaxed ahead of her return, admitting that the tough period had helped her rediscover her purpose on the bike.
“It put lots of things into perspective,” Kenny, who is due to enter three events for Team England at the Commonwealths, said.
“It really did make me think, ‘Why am I doing this?’ It’s because I enjoy it, that’s why, and it made me realise that more than ever.
“I don’t know whether it is because I never really thought the Commonwealth Games was going to be a target, because we were planning on having another little one by now.
“I feel more relaxed than ever... I’m so excited just to get out in front of a home crowd again.”
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement