Having started cycling at a young age, El Barker has already achieved a huge across her career, enjoying success on both the road and track and having competed in three Olympic Games to date.

Elinor and younger sister Meg were first attracted to the sport after seeing cyclists from their local club, the Maindy Flyers, finish track sessions as they were leaving swimming practice. They had a go and their interest in cycling quickly blossomed and would lead to massive international success.

In 2012, Barker was beginning to make a name for herself on the international stage, winning her first rainbow jersey on the road, taking the women’s junior time trial title at the UCI Road World Championships in Limburg, Netherlands, as well as proving her emerging talent on the track, winning double gold at the UEC European Junior Track Championships.

These performances quickly earned her a place on the GBCT Olympic Development Programme  andl ater that year, Barker competed at elite level at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the age of just 18 where she took her first gold alongside Dani King and Laura Kenny (then Trott) in the team pursuit in Glasgow. This was the first of eight consecutive appearances the Welsh rider would make at a world champs, going home with at least one medal from every single competition.

In addition to playing a vital role in the team pursuit squad, Barker had incredible solo success too, winning medals at world cups, European championships and world championships in the points, scratch and elimination races from 2016 through to 2020.

Barker made her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, bringing home gold for Great Britain in the team pursuit alongside Kenny, Katie Archibald and Joanna Rowsell.

The delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 saw the team pursuit squad of Barker, Kenny, Archibald, Josie Knight and Neah Evans take the silver medal, after narrowly being beaten by an incendiary German side.

Barker announced her pregnancy shortly after Tokyo and following baby Nico’s arrival in 2022, she returned to cycling at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games road race, and joined Scandinavian road team Uno-X Mobility, with whom she rode a full road programme in 2023 alongside her track commitments. She achieved career highlights on the road with a top ten finish at Gent-Wevelgem, and participating in her first Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia Women.

On the track that year, there was plenty to celebrate, as Barker kicked off 2023 with double gold at the UEC European Track Championships in Grenchen, Switzerland, winning both the Madison, with Archibald, the pair joining Knight, Evans and Anna Morris to win the team pursuit.

The UCI World Championships in Glasgow followed and the team of Barker, Archibald, Knight, Morris, and Barker’s younger sister Meg beat New Zealand in the final to record the first world title for Great Britain in the event in nine years. Barker took home a second gold from the Madison with her partner Evans.

The Olympic year saw Barker has notch up some promising results at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide, Australia, with silver in the team pursuit and gold in the Madison with Evans. 

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games saw Barker add more silverware to her collection, winning a hard-fought bronze medal in the team pursuit alongside Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts. With teammate Neah Evans, Barker also took home a silver medal in the Madison event.