IT says much about Jack Carlin’s level of ambition that despite collecting four major championship medals in the space of only two weeks this summer, there’s still a shred of frustration that’s omnipresent.
Scotland’s top track sprinter collected silver and bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and only a week later, won another silver and bronze at the European Championships.
His four medal haul was impressive, to say the least, but it meant that elusive gold medal is still missing from Carlin’s collection.
He knows, though, that with 13 major championships medals to his name, including Olympic and world silverware, he has every chance of adding gold to that haul sooner or later.
“The summer went well – a medal in every event I raced was nice but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t go there to win. But you need a little bit of luck on your side as well,” the 25-year-old from Paisley says.
“I think if you’re winning medals, or even in the top eight in my event, you’re close to being able to win. The time differences in these races are so small – you can lose a race by a thousandth of a second. But I don’t want to put pressure on myself to win gold – it’s about keeping doing what I’m doing and hoping that’ll be enough.
“I can’t control how others perform – I can only control how I perform and for me, the consistency is there so all I need is that lucky break or that extra little bit and so I have to think it’ll come. As long as I’m going there to win and I ride well, that’s all I can do.”
Carlin had looked on course to win individual sprint gold at the European Championships but a serious crash in his semi-finals not only hampered his shot at gold in the final, but the effects have lingered and have severely disrupted his preparation for the World Championships, which begin in Saint Quentin en Yvelines on the outskirts of Paris today.
Carlin one of 3 Scots in the 20-strong GB team in France this week and he admits that his injury troubles have ensured his preparation for these World Championships has been markedly different to his typical build-up to a major championship.
“I’ve had a few issues post-Europeans - when you fall off at that speed, you always have things that hurt for a while and I banged my head as well which caused a few issues,” he says.
“This is the first time I had a setback so close to a major competition but that means I just have to approach it in a different way.
“I’ve definitely not set myself targets in terms of medals at these Worlds – I’ve tried not to put pressure on myself like that.
“I’d never want to go to a championship and not be competitive, though. I never want to be someone who just makes up the numbers; I want to be someone who animates the race and gets the results that I expect of myself so I’m still going in with that mindset.
“I’ll still be giving it my absolute all and so we’ll see how that turns out.
Carlin and his GB teammates’ primary aim is to gain qualifying points for next year, when the qualifying period for the 2024 Olympics will begin.
But, having been preceded by Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny in the sprint events, Carlin, who has taken over the mantle of Britain’s top male track sprinter, has big shoes to fill in terms of winning major titles.
But Carlin refuses to expend energy on targeting such a goal, knowing that emulating his countrymen is an all but impossible task for any rider.
“That’s the thing with having someone like Chris Hoy come before you – in other nations, they’d give anything for one bronze medal, or even just to go to the Olympics at all so I’ve got to bear that in mind and a lot of people are there to remind me of that when these thoughts do come into my head,” he says.
“I’m still proud of my achievements in the sport.
“In the golden era of British Cycling a few years ago, it was very much gold medal, gold medal, gold medal but things have changed and times have changed.
“Outwith a small group of extraordinary individuals, I’ve achieved a good amount within the sport so it’s now just putting the final touch on it.
“There are external pressures but more than anything, the pressure comes from myself.
“I just need to keep doing what I’m doing and if gold medals come, they come and if they don’t, I’ll still have had a career to be proud of.
“But I’ll go into every race to win it, including at these World Championships.”
