Four-time Olympic champion cyclist Laura Kenny is aiming for more cycling golds at the next Olympics – after having her first baby this summer with fellow Olympian husband Jason Kenny.
Returning to world-class fitness after having a baby takes some doing, and after the last Olympics Kenny, who is also a seven-time World Champion cyclist, said she didn’t want to juggle children with her cycling career.
But now the former Laura Trott, 24, who married six-time Olympic gold medal cyclist Jason Kenny last September, is expecting a baby in the summer – probably in August, although she doesn’t want to reveal the exact date or the sex.
We caught up with Kenny to find out how the pregnancy’s going, and how she’s encouraging families to get active together as part of the Disney Let’s Go campaign.
Did you plan to have a baby now?
The pregnancy wasn’t a plan as such – both me and Jason had decided we wanted children, and I’d also decided that I wanted to go to at least one more Olympics if I could, so we thought this would be the year to do it if we were going to do it.
Are you hoping your child will eventually follow in its mum and dad’s Olympic cycle tracks?
Arghhhh!!!!!! I love him to bits @JasonKenny107 !! Our kids have to get some of these genes right?!
— Laura Kenny (@LauraKenny31) August 16, 2016
Me and Jason do lead quite active lives, and I know how much we’ve enjoyed cycling. I’d love it if our kids enjoyed it as well.How’s the pregnancy going?The pregnancy’s going really well – I don’t know what the fuss is all about! I’ve had no morning sickness, I haven’t had anything. I’ve carried on going out on my bike, walking the dogs – I’m literally carrying on life as normal for the time being.We’ve tailored everything back a lot, so I’m not doing anything 100% and I’m not going at anything full gas. I didn’t want to put my body in complete shock. Obviously, I’ve never grown a child before, and I didn’t want to stop what I’d always known.When will you resume training after you’ve had the baby?
I don’t want to put a date on it – people always say “When are you coming back?” But I haven’t even had my baby yet! I’m not going to know how fit I can be until I start training again, but the Olympics is what I’d like to be training for. I don’t want to be so far away from where I was.Have you been doing any typical mum-to-be stuff?
We chose to paint the nursery ourselves and it’s nice, isn’t it?It feels like a little project that me and Jason can do together. This is the first grandchild for both sets of grandparents, so they’ve just gone mad with it. It’s got so much stuff already, it’s ridiculous. It’s the most loved baby ever!Will you push your child into exercise?I think it’s hugely important not to push children, but to lead them in that direction. I’m certainly not going to be a pushy parent.I always found it so much more fun going out with my dad, mum and sister than just going out and riding my bike on my own. It’s an easier way to live a healthier life.When our child’s older we could go on family bike rides like me and my parents used to do. I would honestly love that.Why are you backing a Disney family activity campaign?
For me, being active as a family is massively important – that’s how I got into cycling in the first place.I know Disney research found some families say they haven’t got the time to go out together, but it doesn’t have to be going out for massive long bike rides, it can be playing in the garden or taking the dog for a walk.
