Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Katie Archibald has thanked fans for comforting her after the sudden death of her mountain biker partner Rab Wardell.
The Team GB star revealed last week how she desperately attempted to revive her 37-year-old boyfriend when he suffered a cardiac arrest at their home in Glasgow.
He passed away just two days after he won the Scottish Cross Country Championship at Kirroughtree Forest near Newton Stewart.
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Katie, 28, who has won gold medals at the last two Olympic Games, said she is still struggling to come to terms with what happened, but thanked her followers on social media for sharing their own stories of loss with her.
She said: "I'm sorry, it's quite painful to say more, but thank you so much to everyone who's messaged kind words, condolences, and tragically their own stories of loss.
"I know it must have been hard to share but each one made me feel less alone at a time when I'm struggling to breathe if I think about Rab not coming back.
"Every one was a comfort, thank you."
The track cyclist also thanked a German photographer for getting in touch after she sent out a plea to track down treasured pictures of her and Rab sharing a touching moment at an event in 2020.
She has now been given original copies of the series of four photographs which show the couple laughing and embracing at the Six Days of Berlin track cycling race.
Writing on Twitter last week, Katie described how she tried to resuscitate Rab after he fell ill in bed.
She said: "He went into cardiac arrest while we were lying in bed. I tried and tried, and the paramedics arrived within minutes, but his heart stopped and they couldn't bring him back.
"Mine stopped with it. I love him so much and need him here with me. I need him here so badly, but he's gone. I can't describe this pain."
In 2020 Rab set the fastest known time for mountain biking the West Highland Way, completing it in nine hours, 14 minutes and 32 seconds.
He represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Games and competed in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series.
Last Monday night he appeared on BBC Scotland show The Nine to talk about his championship win which he achieved after recovering from three punctures.
Katie has represented Team GB and Scotland at several major championships and became world champion in the omnium event.
She took her first Olympic gold in the women's team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Games and won gold in the women's Madison race at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo with her partner Laura Kenny
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