Elinor Barker Is A Mum With A Medal As She Backs Up Rio And Tokyo Triumphs

By David Williams

Elinor Barker voiced her pride at winning her first Olympic medal since becoming a mother as Great Britain won a bronze in the women’s team pursuit.

The Welsh cyclist – who won gold in Rio in 2016 and silver in Tokyo three years ago – finished on the podium while her two-year-old son Nico watched on inside the velodrome in Paris.

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Barker, 29, joined Josie Knight, plus Welsh pair Anna Morris and Jess Roberts in beating Italy to continue GB’s run of reaching the women’s team pursuit podium at every Olympics since it was introduced in 2012.

“It’s amazing,” said Barker after winning a medal at three consecutive Games.

“It’s been pretty phenomenal, really. It just shows what’s possible as a mum in sport, and what’s actually quite normal now in sport.

“I’m very proud of the whole team and we all have our own stories at how we got here. It’s been a short, mental Olympic cycle. I’m so glad we managed to pull it together at the end.

“I had a good feeling on the start line, felt a bit like a sprung coil ready to go.

“I am just glad to get that feeling because it is so rare to feel like that on a big race day. I’m really glad it has all fallen into place.”

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A strong start from Italy saw Great Britain two tenths of a second down in the opening 500m.

The British squad continued to chase, and were still one second behind the Italians at the halfway point.

In the final kilometre, the British women continued to close the gap, getting quicker with each lap and reclaimed the lead with two laps remaining.

Crossing the line in a time of 4:06.382, the British squad took a bronze medal, two and a half seconds ahead of Italy.

For a long time, they looked as though they were not going to be able to match opponents Italy, but a ferocious final kilometre turned a second deficit into victory by nearly two seconds.

With Elinor Barker's bronze in the women's team pursuit earlier, Britain now have SIX mums with medals at #Paris2024

— David Coverdale (@dpcoverdale) August 7, 2024

Considering they lost double Olympic champion Katie Archibald to injury – breaking two bones in her leg as well tearing ligaments – just over a month out from the Games, that was a remarkable achievement.

And for Knight, it had even greater resonance.

Knight, one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, explained: “Six weeks ago when I arrived back at my house and Katie wasn’t there and she was in A&E, it really felt like the Olympic dream had gone down the drain a little bit.

“It took me a week to refocus, selection was up in the air. We didn’t know who the team was going to be, who was going to be riding, what we were going to do. It was a nervous week while we waited for reselection. We had to refocus and come up with a new strategy and we have nailed it.

“When you come from a nation of so many greats, it’s assumed they are the reason you win anything.

“We’ve got a national record, we are the four fastest team pursuiters in the nation and that is pretty cool.”

Great Britain’s Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jessica Roberts have won a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit at the Paris Olympics. pic.twitter.com/zUt8630vr6

— Radio News Hub (@radionewshub) August 7, 2024