Elinor Barker stormed her Olympic debut by breaking the world record in the women’s team pursuit alongside her team mates Laura Trott, Katie Archibald and Joanna Rowsell-Shand.
The Cardiff-born cyclist has been part of the Great Britain Cycling Team women’s endurance squad since 2013, stepping into a squad that boasted multiple world and Olympic titles, and has grown in strength and depth over the last four years.
“The team is me, Laura Trott, Katie Archibald, Ciara Horne and Joanna Rowsell-Shand. So we’ve got a few Scots, a few English and a few Welsh. We all get along pretty well and try and ride our bikes fast!”
“Our main rivals in team pursuit are USA, who are the current world champions. Australia who are the world record holders at the moment. Canada who have been snapping at everyone’s heels and New Zealand who have come into form the last couple of years.”
Now Team GB have taken back their world record, riding 4:13.260 in the women’s team pursuit qualifiers in Rio, and pipped USA to qualify fastest ahead of the finals on Saturday, where an Olympic medal will be on offer.
Elinor’s cycling journey started in Maindy Flyers, where, along with her sister Megan, they swapped swimming for cycling and never looked back. Elinor has represented Wales on a number of occasions, including the UK School Games in 2009 and the Isle of Man Youth Commonwealth Games in 2011, where she won 4 medals for Wales.
As she progressed, Elinor won medals on the world stage on both road and track, joining the British Cycling Olympic Development Programme whilst training in Wales. She got her first taste of UCI Track World Cup racing with Welsh Cycling’s Team USN who medalled in the 2012/2013 Series.
It was after this trial on the world stage she moved on to the Senior Academy with British Cycling, and became world team pursuit champion in 2013 with Dani King and Laura Trott. Returning to Team Wales in 2014, Elinor won two medals in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, in the points and scratch events, demonstrating her ability to perform as an individual, as well as part of team, on the international stage.
Elinor Barker will continue her Rio campaign in the team pursuit on Saturday 13 August, where an Olympic medal will be on offer.
