Katy Marchant feeling confident ahead of Commonwealth Games return

Walter, a little brother to four-year-old Arthur, arrived in August last year.

Marchant described getting back into competition shape as the “hardest thing I’ve ever done”, but doing it a second time around means fear of the unknown is gone.

“I think I feel more confident this time,” the 33-year-old said. “Coming back after having Arthur, there were many days when I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, am I ever going to be good again?’ The sport moves on and will I ever have what it takes?

“I feel more confident this time around that it’s part of the journey and the bad days make the good.”

Two years ago Marchant got all the confirmation she could need about her ability to get back to the top – winning Olympic team sprint gold and then the world title alongside Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell.

As she eyes what would be her fourth Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Marchant is seeing the right signs again.

“I’ve been producing performances in training like I was producing within six months leading up to the Games,” she said. “I think that just confirms to me that I’ve made the right decision to not retire yet and to keep pushing and see where this takes me.”

Marchant has followed fellow cyclists like Laura Kenny, Sarah Storey and road rider Lizzie Deignan in returning to competition as a mum, but where they all competed on the endurance side, Marchant was the first sprinter.

She admitted that made her something of a “guinea pig” given the very different demands on the body, but as she goes through the process again she knows what to expect.

“I feel like I know my body better,” she said. “I was maybe a little bit cautious the first time coming back because we didn’t really know what we were dealing with.

“Peak power is the last thing to come back, essentially the absolute peak of everything. But you can work on all the things that accumulate to get that peak power…I’m able to feel confident that I know that will come eventually.”

Marchant got back on her bike within a few weeks of Walter’s birth, competing at the national championships in February and reaching the sprint quarter-finals.

That was her first competition in 15 months – Marchant’s previous race ended with her breaking her arm in two places when she went over the barriers at the Track Champions League in December 2024.

Marchant’s last Commonwealth Games were in Gold Coast in 2018, when she won team sprint bronze with Lauren Bate.

The event has not always been a priority given where it falls in the Olympic cycle, but next week’s competition in Glasgow offers Marchant an ideal milestone as she gets back up to speed.

“I’m really fortunate to be in this position that I’ve been selected and it’s possible for me to be really competitive there,” she said. “It’s exciting. It’s all part of the journey. I want to go to LA.”