Dame Laura Kenny defies doubts to claim Commonwealth gold in scratch race

Dame Laura Kenny delivered Commonwealth gold for England in Monday’s scratch race and then revealed she had gone to bed on Sunday wondering if it would be her last competitive ride.

The five-time Olympic champion has endured a traumatic period since the Tokyo Games last summer, suffering a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy.

She has spoken of cycling being her safety blanket, but the pressures of competition have been a burden in recent months and she was disappointed with her form over the weekend.

“Yesterday I thought it was going to be my last bike race,” Kenny said. “Everything about it I just didn’t enjoy. Even before the start, I didn’t know if I could do it.

“(But) I came in this morning in a completely different mindset, thinking: ‘Of course you can do it.’ I told myself in the toilet: ‘You need to race as Laura Trott,’ that old bike rider who didn’t think about anything else other than crossing that finish line first.

“When I changed my mindset, I just felt completely different.”

Roared on by a London crowd that achieved decibel levels reminiscent of the 2012 Olympics, Kenny certainly raced like Trott of old, saving a burst of speed for the final laps to take victory ahead of New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond and Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster. The emotions then poured out.

“I watched Adam Peaty and the way he reflected on his build-up, he said he hasn’t really felt the spark in training and competition for the past two years, and that feels very much like me,” said Kenny, who also pointed to the exit of coach Monica Greenwood and an injury to Madison partner Katie Archibald.

“You know when you get so much bad news that you feel a bit lost. I would say since everything that’s happened to me personally, and then