Laura Kenny backed to achieve more Olympic success after she considered quitting

Great Britain performance director Stephen Park has backed Dame Laura Kenny to achieve more Olympic success after the five-time gold medallist this week revealed she had considered quitting the sport.

Kenny won scratch race gold for England at the Commonwealth Games on Monday, and then admitted she had wondered if it might be her final race after a terrible period for her personally.

The 30-year-old had planned a second child with husband Jason but suffered a miscarriage in November and then had one of her fallopian tubes removed in January due to an ectopic pregnancy.

Kenny has spoken to Park about possibly taking some time out, and it seems likely she will miss next week’s European Championships, which would in turn put an appearance at October’s World Championships in doubt.

But with the Olympic qualifying period starting next year, there would still be plenty of time for Kenny to return.

“I think Laura and a lot of her teammates and support staff have found the last two years really hard,” Park said. “That whole, ‘Is the Olympics on? Is the Olympics not on?’ It takes a huge toll, you’ve worked yourself up for four years.

“Laura’s own ambitions for her own family – these things are well documented. That all plays heavily. Now we’re straight into the qualification process for Paris. It’s quite tiring and relentless, and has felt like that for a lot of the riders and a lot of the staff.

“When you have that success, particularly when you’re a multiple medallist from multiple Games, you’re looking at, can you go one more? Can you keep going? Personally I think she can keep going.

“She’s clearly a fantastic champion but there’s absolutely no doubt you’ve got to make sure you’re fresh in body and mind and you’re ready to