'It's simply time' – Olympic legend Katie Archibald announces surprise retirement
Double Olympic champion retires as one of the most successful track cyclists ever, and looks ahead to future in nursing
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald has called time on a 13-year racing career that has made her one of the most decorated track cyclists of all time, it was announced on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old, who joined the Great Britain Cycling Team (GBCT) aged 19, won more than 50 medals across her career, including two Olympic golds, seven world titles and a record 21 European titles.
“After 13 years competing on the international stage, and a lifetime competing against my big brother, I’ve decided to retire from the former,” Archibald said.
“Being part of the GBCT has meant being part of something bigger than myself, and it’s been a true honour to race my bike alongside the best in the country.”
Archibald (right) won her seventh world title last October in the Madison alongside Maddie Leech.
Raised in Milngavie, Scotland, Archibald’s competitive introduction to cycling came in grass track in 2011, before she moved to the wooden boards of Edinburgh’s outdoor Meadowbank Velodrome.
Her first major medal was bronze in the points race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Two years later, she won her first Olympic title in the team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Games; her second in 2021 was history-making, as she and Laura Kenny became the first female Olympic Madison champions, after the event was introduced to the Games in Tokyo. That victory is considered to be one of the most resounding ever, with more than double the points of second place.
Archibald missed her title defence at the Paris Olympics in 2024 due to a broken leg. She had previously said she wanted to compete at the Commonwealth Games this summer, and the LA Olympics in 2028.
Kenny and Archibald won the Madison in Tokyo with 78 points. Denmark finished second with 35.
In quotes shared by British Cycling, Archibald said the “draw of the ‘real world’” had been pulling her for a while, but she had been too afraid to leave cycling.
“Now is the right time simply because I’m not scared anymore,” she said. “I can’t claim to know why that is, but for some reason I only have a craving to live the life I’ve been saving for a rainy day, and no fear that I’ll miss the sunshine. It’s simply time.
“In the early stages of my career, I was sure I would never willingly walk away. I’ve been born in the right place at the right time with a talent that’s let me make a job of something people do for fun – that’s wild. I felt that giving this up before it was ripped from my hands would be irrational.
“At some point, though, I realised no one was going to rip it from my hands. I realised the decision would have to be mine, and I’ve found that truth quite hard to handle.”
Archibald’s last track competition was the British Championships in February, where she took bronze in the points race.
Last September, Archibald began training as a nurse alongside her role within the GB squad. She completed her first placement earlier this year, and said she has “fallen completely in love with the whole thing”.
“When I let my friends and teammates know I was retiring from sport, they assumed it was because I wasn’t coping doing both,” she said. “The truth is, though, that there’s still a lot of ‘student’ in ‘student nurse’. I’ve had plenty of free time to train, and most of my classmates have jobs and families and commitments more taxing than mine.
“I really want to stress that the nursing training isn’t forcing me into retirement. At the same time, this thing that I’m just enamoured with is making me excited for the future, and that makes this transition less scary.”
Archibald leaves a legacy as one of the greatest endurance riders in track cycling history, and a leading figure in Great Britain’s success over the last decade.
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