Olympic cyclist Laura Trott knows that family is everything
- Text by Huck HQ / Alex King
- Photography by Jon Baines
#25 – Laura Trott
Double Olympic gold medalist Laura Trott was born in Essex, a month prematurely with a collapsed lung and asthma. To keep on top of her condition, doctors recommended sport, but it was her mum who encouraged her to take cycling seriously. Her family supported her throughout her long and tough journey to London 2012, where she picked up two gold medals at her first Olympics. Trott set a world record in the women’s pursuit team, alongside Joanna Rowsell and Dani King, and dominated the omnium, a technically challenging multi-discipline event – track cycling’s answer to the decathlon. At just twenty-two, Laura has become an ambassador for cycling, carrying a huge weight of expectation and the responsibility of inspiring the next generation. Support from team-mates and coaches helps, but for Laura, her family have always kept her riding at her stunning best.
“People start expecting you to win. With me, that’s when I sort of had to get control of it because it does start ruining races. If you go on the start-line feeling like the whole world is on your back, all that pressure on you, it’s only ever going to go one way.
“The most important thing is the people around me. My parents are always there. I’m with my dad throughout the competition. My mum gets cycling in a way, but she doesn’t get the tactics and stuff, so it’s nice to have her there because it’s almost like an outsider. She sees it for what it is. They just make you feel normal, they make me realise that losing the Worlds or losing a race isn’t the end of the world. There’s always another race.”
This is just a short excerpt from Huck’s Fiftieth Special, a collection of fifty personal stories from fifty inspiring lives.
Grab a copy now to read all fifty stories in full. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
You might like
The rise of the outdoor’s punks
Future is unwritten — As demand for the outdoors has grown, so has the codification of its rules and styles. Phil Young searches for those adventuring against the mainstream and asks if the industry is about to get its own record label moment?
Written by: Phil Young
Danny León pulls huge aerial in line with the solar eclipse
Totality — Combined with a board grab, the Spanish skateboarder performed the trick just as the moon’s path had completely covered the sun.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The art of paying attention: How Austria’s Alps reward slowing down
Lebensgefühl — With a growing movement of art and music rooted in the area’s mountains, trees and waterfalls, the region is showcasing the importance of the human relationship to nature.
Written by: Sophie Lou Wilson
Rab’s adventures on film at Love Trails Festival
Adventure Film Night — Taking place between July 2-6, Rab are screening six documentaries at the festival that explore the remarkable world of the adventure sport community.
Written by: Roxana Diba
In Syria’s mountains, climbers are pitching new lines to a freer future
Vertical rebirth — Assad’s fall has opened up huge, previously untouched mountain areas for people to explore. Bushra Alzoubi meets a trio of sibling rock climbers who are building a scene from scratch.
Written by: Bushra Alzoubi
6 years on from George Floyd, how much more accessible is the outdoors for People of Colour?
Second Nature — A new report by The Mix Global highlights continued barriers that marginalised folks face when exploring nature, despite attempts at greater representation. Phil Young takes stock of how far we’ve come.
Written by: Phil Young
