Katy Marchant has announced her retirement from cycling, bringing a 13-year Great Britain career to an end after winning Olympic, world and European titles.
The Yorkshire-born sprinter leaves the sport with two Olympic medals, three World Championship medals, seven European Championship medals and two Commonwealth Games medals. Her defining achievement came at Paris 2024, where she joined Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane to win Britain’s first Olympic title in the women’s team sprint.
Marchant also became one of the senior figures within Britain’s sprint programme and twice returned to elite competition after having children.
“The highs, the lows, and everything in between – British Cycling has been my home,” she said. “My dreams came true, and I feel incredibly lucky that it has been my life for the last 13 years.”
Marchant reached the Olympics three years after taking up cycling
Marchant came to track cycling relatively late but progressed quickly after joining the Great Britain Cycling Team in 2013.
Her early international results included four European under-23 medals, among them a keirin title, and within three years she had reached the Olympic Games.
At Rio 2016, Marchant took bronze in the individual sprint. Teammate Becky James won silver, giving Britain two riders on the podium.
Marchant followed that with team sprint bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games before qualifying for a second Olympics in Tokyo.
Her Tokyo campaign ended early after a crash in the keirin, and the next stage of her career took place away from competition when she became a mother for the first time in 2022.
Photo Credit: SWPixReturn from motherhood led to Paris 2024
Marchant returned to the British programme with Paris firmly in mind.
By then, the women’s team sprint had become a major part of Britain’s plans, and Marchant developed into an important member of a group that also included Finucane and Capewell.
European silver in the team sprint followed in 2023. Britain repeated that result in 2024, while Marchant also won the European 500m time trial title six months before the Olympics.
Her place in the Paris squad was confirmed as part of the final Team GB cycling selection for the 2024 Olympics.
What followed became the high point of her career.
Marchant, Capewell and Finucane made history in Paris
Great Britain had never previously won an Olympic medal in the women’s team sprint.
Marchant, Capewell and Finucane changed that immediately.
The trio broke the world record three times during the Paris competition before winning gold in the final, becoming Britain’s first Olympic champions in the event.
For Marchant, the victory came eight years after her individual sprint bronze in Rio and completed a long route from a late arrival in cycling to the top step of an Olympic podium.
The success also reflected how much Britain’s women’s sprint programme had changed during her time within it. Marchant had been present through much of that development and, by Paris, was the most experienced rider in the team.
World title completed Marchant’s best season
The Olympic champions carried their form into the 2024 UCI Track World Championships.
Marchant, Capewell and Finucane won the team sprint again, giving the British trio both the Olympic and world titles in the same season.
Marchant added bronze medals in the 500m time trial and keirin to leave the championships with three medals.
It was the strongest year of her career and established the team sprint squad as one of the dominant combinations in world track cycling.
Marchant then stepped away from the sport again to have her second son, Walter, in 2025.
Marchant returned to elite competition for a second time
Her return after Walter’s birth made Marchant the first British female sprinter to come back to the national programme twice after having children.
That gave the final years of her career an importance beyond medals.
Marchant had already shown she could regain elite form after her first pregnancy. Doing so again added weight to her role as one of the most experienced members of the programme and as a voice for mothers continuing in high-performance sport.
Great Britain performance director Stephen Park highlighted that part of her influence when paying tribute to her career.
“Most importantly, Katy has become a powerful role model for women across our sport, showing that motherhood and elite performance are not mutually exclusive,” he said.
Glasgow 2026 became Marchant’s final international appearance
Marchant’s last international competition came at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Riding alongside Capewell and Rihanna Parris-Smith, she won silver in the team sprint.
Marchant had been one of the key returning names in our Great Britain track cycling guide for Glasgow 2026, with the Games providing one final major target after her second return from maternity leave.
The silver medal brought her international career to a close 13 years after she first joined the Great Britain programme.
Marchant leaves as one of Britain’s leading female sprinters
Marchant retires with Olympic gold and bronze medals, one world title and two further World Championship bronzes, as well as European and Commonwealth Games success.
She also connected two different generations of Britain’s women’s sprint programme.
Her early Olympic years were shared with riders such as Becky James. By Paris 2024, Marchant had become the experienced figure alongside Finucane and Capewell as a new British sprint generation took over.
“Katy has carved out an exceptional legacy as one of British cycling’s best female sprinters,” Park said. “Her achievements speak for themselves as an Olympic, world, and European champion.”
For Marchant, Glasgow provided a final medal before the decision to stop.
“While I am closing the door on this incredible era, I am truly excited to embrace what’s next for me,” she said. “Thank you for having me, British Cycling. What a ride!”
Main photo credit: SWPix
