The Big Interview: Katy Marchant eyes missing medal at Glasgow Commonwealth Games and 'last dance' Olympics

In the latest of our Big Interview features, Lee Sobot catches up with Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist and former world champion track cyclist Katy Marchant. The 33-year-old Leeds star is now eyeing a first Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow next week following a recent break after the birth of her second child, Walter.

Hi Katy, we spoke to another of the city's cycling stars Lizzie Deignan the other week who retired after the birth of her third child - but you're not stopping just yet then?!

"Absolutely not no! I'm not quite finished yet. I'm really excited actually. Don't get me wrong, it's had its challenges but I'm super excited and ready to get stuck into a bit of racing actually, like the first major competition back. It's really exciting. I started off back at the national champs and then did one international meet over in Ghent at the start of the summer. But I've taken a lot of confidence from the first time I did it after my first child Arthur and we've been able to use that a lot this second time around. Things have been different and things have been more challenging in some areas but in other areas I've made some like massive gains really. In some areas we have seen numbers that we were maybe seeing in the six-month lead up to the Olympic Games. It's been really exciting and I can only say positive things really."

Did you ever contemplate stopping then after your second child Katy and what was the thinking behind carrying on and keeping going?

"I think a few things. I just always said that I think I'll know when I'm finished and I just didn't quite have that feeling of I think I'm finished yet. I crashed out of the TCL at the end of 2024 and I was like, 'this can't be the way that I leave the sport, I cannot leave like this.' I just definitely didn't feel finished and I just want to eke out every last little bit that I can. I'm longer retired than I am in the sport so I don't want to live with any what ifs."

The Commonwealth Games then - what does this competition mean to you Katy?

"One thing I don't have is a Commonwealth gold medal. I have a bronze from 2018 and I missed 2022 because I was having my first child, Arthur, at the time. So, this is actually only my second Commonwealth Games, and I think it's a perfect opportunity to be back in a Games environment and be back at a major competition. We're really fortunate that every woman on the GB sprints programme is going to line up the Commonwealth Games for either England, Scotland or Wales so it's super exciting and I think we are in a really fortunate position."

What events are you competing in then Katy and what are the chances in them would you say? As an Olympic and world champion people will be very hopeful so are you feeling any pressure?

"I'm riding in the team sprint, the sprint and the keirin. Something I learned coming back having had Arthur was that pressure is a privilege I guess and I like to be in that position. I like to challenge myself. I want to see what I'm capable of. And I want to see what the last ten months since having Walter has done for me. I believe I am in the best possible shape that I could be in at this moment in time and I also believe that I'm going to be competitive. I'm going to be up against the girls that I train with day and day out, I know what kind of times they've been doing and what kind of times I've been doing and stuff and I'm in a really competitive position. The England squad, the England girls in the team sprint, we have a really, really strong chance so I'm really looking forward to getting there and just getting it done now. The team sprint is on Thursday, the sprint is on Friday and the keirin is on Sunday. We travel up to Glasgow on Monday and then all systems go from there."

Fantastic, and then before you know it the next Olympics will be here with LA28?

"Yes, qualification starts at the end of the year and I already feel like I've got my teeth into it. I want to eek out every last little thing. If that means I get one last dance at another Olympics that would be absolutely incredible and that's obviously the long-term goal. But we'll just see what happens. I could retire today with a very successful and happy career but I don't want to say, 'what if' for the rest of my life, 'what if I had just given it a little bit longer?' I just want to eke out every last little bit but the long goal is another Olympics."

How do you look back on what you have achieved so far then Katy and what's been the highlight as you have been both an Olympic and world champion?

"I think obviously 2024 was a massive highlight for me. It was a successful year, I became European, Olympic and World Champion in the same year and that's something that I'd never been able to say in my career. But I think what I feel the most proud of is the longevity I've had of it. I won my first Olympic medal in 2016 and it's 2026 now. Ten years later and I'm still trying to win Olympic medals and I still have the same desire and the same want to do it. To me, that's the most impressive thing and something that I take the most pride in I think. 2024 was obviously an insane year, but every year leading into that led me to where I was in 2024 so I wouldn't change a single thing and I won't change a single thing going forward. I just keep doing what I know works for me and keep doing my best and hopefully that means I'll have one last dance in LA."

Can you remember how it all began Katy as you did other sports first and most notably heptathlon?

"It feels like a hell of a long time ago now! But I'm still the same person and that desire hasn't changed and I just wanted to succeed in whatever it was that I was doing. Obviously it was heptathlon at the time and then I landed myself in cycling and that want and that desire to just be the best version of yourself whether that's running, rowing, biking, that hasn't changed. It's been crazy really."

And throughout it all Katy you are flying the flag not just for England and Team GB but also Leeds which is obviously a very successful sporting city. Even this weekend we have three Leeds athletes at the World Triathlon Championship Series in London. You are now one of the city's golden girls Katy so what does that all mean to you?

"It's really special. I think it's something that we don't look at enough every now and again. And actually since having my second child now and coming back, it's one of the things that I've started to look at more. You can take so much pride in that kind of stuff and that can help drive towards the next and you are inspired. I might be one of the golden girls of Leeds but I am still inspired by all of the other people in Yorkshire and the stuff they are doing as well. It's really special I think to just take a step back now and again and look at that and go 'that's pretty cool."

It certainly is - when you were younger were there any athletes from the area that you particularly looked up to Katy?

"Obviously I trained alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill at the time and she was always someone that I prided myself on a little bit in being an athlete. Obviously when I came to cycling there was Lizzie and it was great having these people and, while it might sound silly, knowing that people from Yorkshire can do it too! Having that community is super special and something we take for granted."

What it is about Leeds then Katy that gives us so much sporting success - or is it coincidence?

"It can't be a coincidence can it. I feel like it has to be something in the water. We're built on grit and determination I think. We just like hard work. Do we have worse weather so we are bit tougher?! I don't know, that's what everyone always says. But it can't be a coincidence can it."

Tell us about your own Leeds and Yorkshire roots Katy as you are Leeds through and through aren't you?

"I went to Brigshaw High School and Allerton Bywater and I went to primary school in Swillington. I'm Leeds through and through, literally born and bred. Pretty much around Wetherby/Barwick-in-Elmet/Garforth area. I've always been around there, I am still there now and my husband, Rob, is a farmer now in the village that we live in Barwick-in-Elmet. We'll stay there for the foreseeable future and hopefully the boys will be Yorkshire through and through as well."

And how is life bringing up the young boys whilst still seeking cycling glory too?! It must be busy!

"It's huge. It's hard at times, don't get me wrong. But happy head, fast legs. My house and my heart is full of love and I wouldn't change it for the world. They motivate me more to do it and I inspire them. Walter maybe not so much at the minute because he's not one yet. But Arthur definitely. He still talks now about the Olympics. At the time of the Olympics he was two and you feel like they don't really remember it but they obviously do. And again that just adds to that drive and desire to get very last little bit out."

Is Arthur on the bike yet then?

"Oh yeah, he's obsessed with it. He absolutely loves it. He's been on the velodrome as well. But he loves cricket, football, we are very outdoorsy and he absolutely loves sport. He's quite into BMX at the minute but I don't think I want to be a BMX mum so I think I will try and deter him away from that and he's going to spend the summer in the tractor."

Brilliant! It doesn't sound like Arthur will need any extra help - but when it comes to cycling Katy, British Cycling, in partnership with Lloyds, have this week launched the Sofa to Saddle app to help inspire and enable the nation to get on their bikes. How important is that?

"It's absolutely huge. I think it's a really nice way to start changing the narrative around how we can just be a little bit more active and cycling is so accessible. There's always been like Couch to 5K stuff. People always say 'I can't run, I can't do this, I can't do that' whereas I feel like cycling is just so accessible whether it's your boy with a bike from a friend or renting a bike from a shop or the bike to work schemes. It's really, really accessible. I think it's really important that people jump onboard with this opportunity to be able to change the narrative of having a more active lifestyle."