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Laira Kenny at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
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Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Laura Kenny, Britain's most successful Olympic athlete, has announced her retirement from cycling.
She justified this step by wanting to spend more time at home with her family.
The 31-year-old has won five Olympic gold medals and has also been world champion seven times.
She should also have competed at the Olympic Games in Paris in the summer of 2024.
But Kenny is foregoing that now.
She gave birth to her second child last year and told the BBC on Monday that being at home was becoming more and more tempting for her.
"The sacrifices you make by leaving your kids and your family at home are really big, and it's really a big decision," Kenny said.
»It became more and more difficult for me to do that.
More and more people asked me which races I was taking part in, which training camps I was taking part in - I ultimately didn't want to do any more and that's what it came down to."
Laura Kenny won gold in the team pursuit and omnium at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and in the madison at the 2020 Olympics.
She also won a silver medal in the team pursuit in 2020.
Omnium is an all-around competition consisting of four sub-disciplines.
Madison is the name given to two-person team riding.
»She was a beacon of inspiration«
Kenny described the London 2012 Games as the “absolute highlight” of her career. “I never thought I would go to a home game, let alone win two gold medals,” she said.
Britain's director of team performance, Stephen Park, described Laura Kenny as "one of the greatest sporting talents our country has ever produced".
“She was a beacon of inspiration to so many, young and old,” said Park, “and I am sure the entire British cycling community will join me in wishing her the very best in the next chapter of her life.”
Her husband, Jason Kenny, is also a cyclist and is Britain's most decorated Olympian with seven gold medals.
He now works as a trainer.
kjo/AP/Reuters