Katie Archibald Cycling Retirement: 31 titles end after 13 years

Katie Archibald cycling retirement closes a 13-year run on the international track after she announced she is leaving professional cycling. The 32-year-old won 31 major championship titles and ended her career with medals at the European Championships in February.

Archibald’s 31-title track run

Archibald said, "I love racing my bike." She added that competing for Great Britain had meant "being part of something bigger than myself," and that racing alongside the best in the country had been "a true honour."

Her haul included Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth gold. She won major titles in individual pursuit, team pursuit and the Omnium, a spread that shows how often she delivered across the track program rather than in one specialty.

From Manchester to medals

Archibald moved to Manchester in 2013 to join the Olympic Development Academy, then won team pursuit gold at the European Championships alongside Laura Trott, Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and Elinor Barker. She was included in both rounds of that competition and set a world record in each.

Her career kept rising after that. In 2018, she won women’s Madison gold at the World Championships with Emily Nelson, and she later won the first ever women’s Madison Olympic gold with Laura Kenny.

John, February, and the final stretch

Archibald said she had competed on the international stage for 13 years and against her big brother John for a lifetime. She also said, "The things I’m grateful for across my career are that I’ve gotten to learn so much, see so much, and meet so many incredible people."

Her final medals came in February at the European Championships, bringing the story back to the same level that helped define her rise. She said she hoped she had made an impact on the individuals she worked with, and she added that the women’s Madison had only joined the world and Olympic programmes in late 2016, a change she feels proud to have pushed forward.