Laura Kenny facts for kids
Kenny at the 2015 UEC European Track Championships
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Laura Rebecca Kenny |
| Born | 24 April 1992 Harlow, Essex, England |
| Height | 1.63 m |
| Weight | 52 kg |
| Team information | |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type |
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Dame Laura Rebecca Kenny, born Laura Trott on April 24, 1992, is a famous British cyclist. She used to compete in track and road races. Laura was especially good at endurance events on the track. These include the team pursuit, omnium, scratch race, elimination race, and madison.
Laura Kenny is one of the most successful athletes in British history. She has won six Olympic medals. This makes her the most successful female cyclist ever at the Olympics. She is also the most successful British female athlete in Olympic history.
She won gold medals in the team pursuit and omnium at both the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won gold in the madison and silver in the team pursuit. Overall, she has won 28 senior gold medals. These include five Olympic, seven World Championship, 14 European Championship, and two Commonwealth Games titles. Laura Kenny announced her retirement from cycling on March 18, 2024.
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Laura's Early Life
Laura Kenny was born early in Harlow, Essex. She had a collapsed lung and later developed asthma. Doctors suggested she try sports to help her breathing. She enjoyed trampolining but had to stop because of her breathing issues. Laura grew up in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. She went to Turnford School. Her older sister, Emma Trott, was also a road cyclist. Laura is a big fan of Tottenham Hotspur F.C..
She started cycling with her sister. They rode alongside their mother, who began cycling to lose weight.
Laura's Amazing Cycling Career
Laura started her cycling career by winning two junior titles. This was at the British National Track Championships in 2009 and 2010. At just 18, she joined the team pursuit squad for the 2010 European Track Championships. She won a gold medal there.
Becoming a World Champion
Laura then won her first world title in 2011. This was again as part of the team pursuit squad. Before the 2012 Olympics, she won two more World and two European gold medals. These were in both the team pursuit and the omnium. This secured her spot in the Great Britain team for the Olympics. Both events were new to the Olympics that year.
Olympic Gold in London 2012
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Laura won a gold medal in the team pursuit. She raced with Dani King and Joanna Rowsell. Their team set a new world record time of 3:14.051. They had broken the world record in every race they rode together. Two days later, she won another gold medal in the omnium. For the 2012 road season, Laura joined Team Ibis Cycles.
Continuing Success and Commonwealth Games
In 2013, Laura raced more on the road with her new team, Wiggle Honda. She finished second at the British National Road Race Championships. This also gave her the under-23 title. However, her road racing was mainly to help her track training. Laura won more World and European team pursuit gold medals in 2013 and 2014. She also won a European omnium title and a World omnium silver medal.
She focused on the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She competed with a kidney infection but recovered during the Games. She won a gold medal for England in the points race. On the road, she won her first senior road race title at the national championships.
World Championships and Rio 2016
In February 2015, Laura did not win a gold medal at the World Championships. This was the first time in her career. She finished second in both the team pursuit and omnium. She then moved to the Matrix Fitness Vulpine team in 2015. This allowed her to balance her road and track cycling goals better.
After a road season, she won three gold medals at the 2015 European Championships. These were in the team pursuit, scratch race, and omnium. She then won gold medals in the scratch race and omnium at the 2016 World Championships in London. She also got a bronze medal in the team pursuit.
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At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Laura was expected to win in the omnium. She also hoped for a medal in the team pursuit. Great Britain won gold in the team pursuit. They set new world records in the qualification and final races. This made Laura the first British woman to win three Olympic gold medals. She then won a comfortable gold medal in the omnium. This made her Britain's most successful female Olympian. After the Games, Laura and her fiancé Jason Kenny were called a 'golden couple'. They had won five gold medals together in 2016.
Tokyo 2020 and Retirement
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Laura and her team won a silver medal in the team pursuit. They briefly held the world record in their first race. Later, Laura and Katie Archibald made history. They became the first Olympic champions in the women's Madison. They won 10 out of 12 sprints and gained a lap on the other teams.
This win made Laura the first British woman to win gold medals at three Olympics in a row. She became the most successful female cyclist in Olympic history. She also tied with Charlotte Dujardin for the most Olympic medals won by a British female athlete. In the omnium, Laura had a tough start. She was in a crash during the scratch race. She still managed to finish sixth overall. Laura was chosen to carry the flag for the British team at the Games' closing ceremony.
Laura's Personal Life
Laura Trott married fellow track cyclist Jason Kenny on September 24, 2016. They live near Knutsford in Cheshire. Their first son was born on August 23, 2017. Their second son was born on July 20, 2023. On December 31, 2024, they announced she was expecting her third child.
Awards and Recognition
Laura has received many honors for her cycling achievements. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013. In 2017, she became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Both Laura and Jason Kenny received their CBEs at Buckingham Palace. Together, they have won 12 Olympic gold medals. This makes them one of the most successful Olympic families ever.
In 2013, she received an Honorary Degree from the University of Essex. In 2014, a leisure center in Cheshunt was renamed The Laura Trott Leisure Centre in her honor. Laura attended the opening. In 2022, Laura was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). Her husband Jason was also knighted in the same year. They both received their honors at Windsor Castle.
See also
In Spanish: Laura Kenny para niños
- List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
- List of Olympic medalists in cycling (women)
- 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom
- List of British cyclists
