10 October 2019

Katie Archibald urges Team GB cyclists not to reflect on past glory ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Olympic champion cyclist Katie Archibald is urging her team-mates not to try repeating their build-up to Rio 2016, even though it ended up in Olympic gold.

The 25-year-old, part of the team pursuit quartet which also featured Elinor Barker, Joanna Rowsell Shand and Laura Kenny, is now focused on Tokyo 2020.

But she said: "It's important not to just try to repeat yourself.

"Our preparations for Rio weren't perfect, but we did win. So it can be quite an easy barometer to use in terms of measuring how you feel against this time four years ago.

"I think that's an error, though. Obviously I'm a different athlete, we're a different team and we've got different aspirations."

At the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in February, the British foursome, which remained largely the same as Rio with the exception of Ellie Dickinson coming in for the retired Rowsell Shand, had to settle for silver behind Australia.

However, that was also the case in 2015 and by a wider margin, so there is reason to be confident for Team GB, who famously work in four-year cycles leading up to the Olympics.

Tokyo 2020 will also see the return of the madison event after a 12 year hiatus, and a women's edition will take place for the first time ever.

"I really want to be in that team pursuit squad and I really want to have a madison place," added Archibald.

"I've shifted my focus from the omnium to ensure that the other two are realistic ambitions, because we are a nation that aims for gold medals. I still feel good about that decision."

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