Dame Laura Kenny has announced her ambition to compete at next summer’s Olympics – just months after giving birth to her second child.

The five-time Olympic gold medallist’s participation in Paris was in doubt following the arrival of her son Monty in July.

But Kenny has now revealed she is bidding to make the mother of all comebacks by winning selection for her fourth Games.

‘I want to compete at the next Olympics,’ said the 31-year-old, who had her first son Albie in 2017. ‘I know everyone thinks I’m absolutely mad in saying that, but if I don’t try, I’ll never know. I would hate to be sat here thinking, “Well, I never even gave it a go to see if I could make it”.

‘I hope both children see their mum as someone who was determined to make both things work. They will never have the burden of thinking, “Oh, mum had me and then ended her career”. I hope they look back and see that from the day they were born, they were part of the journey.’

Dame Laura Kenny is targetting a Team GB return ahead of next year’s Olympics in Paris

The cyclist has tasted plenty of success at the Games, picking up five gold medals already

Kenny, who is Team GB’s most successful female Olympian, is married to fellow Olympic cycling legend Jason Kenny 

Kenny, who is married to fellow Olympic cycling legend Jason Kenny, suffered a miscarriage and then an ectopic pregnancy before falling pregnant with Monty late last year.

‘I struggled massively mentally after everything that we went through, and I’d say I probably wasn’t truly happy until I fell pregnant with Monty,’ she added in the Team GB and Toyota docuseries, The Journey.

Kenny won gold medals in the omnium and team pursuit at both London 2012 and Rio 2016. She claimed her fifth gold at Tokyo 2020 in the madison with Katie Archibald, and also added a silver in the team pursuit, making her Team GB’s most successful female Olympian.

However, Kenny will not be guaranteed a place at Paris 2024 after Britain were able to win gold in the team pursuit at the World Championships in July in her absence. On the eve of that event, British Cycling performance director Stephen Park admitted it would be a ‘stretch’ for Kenny to come back for Paris, warning she would face competition from some ‘very strong riders’ and she would have to be in ‘good form’.

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