Cyclists Dame Laura and Sir Jason Kenny are the most successful married couple in Olympic history. The pair have 15 Olympic medals between them - 12 golds and three silvers.
The couple, who live near Knutsford in Cheshire, received a damehood and knighthood respectively in the 2022 News Year's Honours list. Laura and Bolton-born Jason met through their love of cycling and they tied the knot shortly after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In 2017 they welcomed their son, Albie, who turns five in August. But record-breaking Olympian Laura revealed she considered walking away from cycling after suffering an ectopic pregnancy earlier this year. She revealed in April that she had suffered a miscarriage at nine weeks in November.
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In January, the 30-year-old contracted coronavirus and was taken to hospital where it was discovered she was having an ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb. The five-time Olympic champion returned to racing in April with a team pursuit silver at the Nations Cup in Glasgow, and is now back on track as she gears up for the Commonwealth Games, which get underway in Birmingham today.
The sports star said there was a point at the start of the year where, if not for the support of her family, she could have ended a career that has yielded six Olympic medals.
She felt overwhelmed, but decided to get back on her bike. She explained: "For me, that’s what I’ve done for the last 13 years. It feels like a safe place, the obvious thing for me to do when I felt that broken was to go out and ride my bike again.
“It just started to come back again and once I started, I got back into the rhythm of things. It put lots of things into perspective. 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.”
With the World Championships coming up in October and Olympic qualifying getting underway, it is a daunting schedule, but after all she has been through in recent months, Kenny is riding with a different perspective. “I don’t really know what I’ll be expecting going into these Games because it’s a funny schedule where we have the Commonwealths, then a five-day gap, and then we go straight into the European championships,” the 30-year-old said.
She said: “You can’t taper and peak in training when two competitions are so close together, and in the last month I’ve literally done just three sessions on the track. Before that would have worried me and I would have been sat here panicking, and maybe it’s a bit blase for me to sit here and say I’m just looking forward to riding my bike again, but I feel like I’ve got low expectations. People on the outside are going to expect me to cross the finish line first, but I’m in a really relaxed place right now.”
Laura married fellow gold medallist Jason following their Rio 2016 success, and gave birth to their first son Albie the following year. The pair went on to win even more medals at Tokyo 2020, but Jason later retired and is now a cycling coach.
However, the pair's first ever meeting happened to be a rather awkward encounter. In an appearance on Loose Women, Laura revealed that, on her first day at British Cycling, Jason was less than forthcoming in introducing himself to his future wife, the Mirror reports.
She told the panel she walked in at the age of 18 to a sea of welcoming faces saying hello. "Sir Chris comes up to you and says, 'I'm Sir Chris Hoy,' and you're like 'ah' - starstruck, because he's like a legend in our sport," she said. It was then that Laura spotted Jason - who barely looked up from his drink.
"Jason just sat there drinking a cup of coffee... nothing," she said. The pair have joked that Jason is “just not very good at first impressions.”
Speaking about his new job as a coach earlier this year, Jason said he was getting "stuck in". He said: “It’s been good fun. I’ve just gone diving in. I’m a bit of a bull in a china shop. It’s a steep learning curve but I’m working with some good people, starting to find my feet now and really enjoying it…"
He admitted there was an element of sadness to his decision to retire. He had still been planning to race on until the Paris Olympics in 2024 but, unsure of his form, he put in an application for the coaching role knowing how rarely such opportunities come up, and could not turn it down once offered the job.
He said he loves to still jump on his bike during track sessions but knows now his job has changed. “Cycling’s addictive, contagious,” he said. “When you see people having a good time on a bike it’s hard not to get stuck in yourself so yeah, I’ve done a little bit. Obviously I’m competitive. I’d love to get up and do an effort and see what I can do, but you’ve got to keep your head."
Jason said the change in job had always been on the cards since the birth of Albie, saying: "It's all about the little one." He said: “I think you grow out of the athlete mentality. I certainly have since having Albie. You enjoy less and less being the centre of attention. I feel much more comfortable supporting other people than I do being the one taking. That’s been a natural progression for me."
He added: "It’s just part of growing up – you get married get dogs and have a little one, so you slip down the priority list. It hasn’t felt hard to do and I’m really happy now to be playing a supporting role.”
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