World champion Finucane ready for 'dream' Olympic debut

Emma Finucane is already the world and European champion in the women's sprint

It is rare for there to be so much anticipation for a 21-year-old’s Olympic debut.

But Emma Finucane is no ordinary 21-year-old.

The track cyclist is already world champion in the women’s sprint. The youngest British woman to win it - and only the third after Victoria Pendleton and Becky James.

They went on to do special things at the Olympics - and, as the track cycling programme begins in Paris, hopes are high for Finucane.

Over the next seven days she is targeting the women’s team sprint, the individual sprint and the keirin. Three events; three Olympic golds up for grabs.

So how has she arrived in Paris as one of Team GB’s ones to watch?

Emma (c) started riding in Carmarthen with her sister Rosie (l) and brother Sean (r)

It all started at Carmarthen Velodrome in 2011. An outdoor track in Carmarthen Park, built in 1900, which claims to be one of the oldest velodromes in the world.

Eight-year-old Emma would go along with her sister, Rosie, and brother, Sean. She began with pink tassels hanging off her handlebars, but it was not long before she started training - and racing - with local cycling club, Towy Riders.

“I remember her first race,” recalls her father, Rory. “You could see then that she enjoyed it so much, it made her competitive. She put a lot of effort in and she was really keen.”

“She just enjoyed racing,” adds her mother, Susie. “She didn’t mind if the weather was bad. It was the speed too - she always liked to go fast.”

Her success? “You could see it coming,” her father added.

After training at the National Velodrome of Wales in Newport, it was not long before British Cycling spotted Finucane in 2018. The following year, aged just 16, she became European junior champion in the 500m TT, with silvers in the sprint and team sprint.

Then, in 2020, the Covid pandemic hit. She went back home to Wales and trained as best she could at home during lockdown. She was eventually, as part of a group of elite athletes, given special dispensation to train at the velodrome that summer. Such was the potential of this talented teenager.

It kept her on track for her first major senior championships - the Commonwealth Games in 2022. She even took herself by surprise.

Team Wales - with Finucane, Lowri Thomas and Rhian Edmunds - finished ahead of England and beat Australia on their way to a brilliant bronze in the women’s team sprint.

Finucane, alongside Lowri Thomas (l) and Rhian Edmunds (r) beat Australia to Commonwealth Games bronze in 2022

For the individual sprint, Finucane had encouraged her family not to bother with tickets for the medal races as she did not think she would be there.

She ended up reaching the semi-finals, where she narrowly lost out to Canada’s Olympic champion, Kelsey Mitchell.

Her parents did manage to get tickets for the bronze medal match - where she beat England's (and now British Cycling teammate) Sophie Capewell for her second bronze of the Games.

The following summer was her breakthrough moment. She set a new sea-level world record over 200m on her way to the women’s sprint world title as Finucane became Britain’s first female sprint world champion since compatriot Becky James a decade earlier.

Earlier this year, Finucane won the European women’s sprint title - along with silvers in the team sprint and keirin. It was the best performance by a British sprinter - man or women - at a European Championships.

So that is how she got here.

And that is why the anticipation is so great.

But for Finucane herself, when she looks back at her journey from Carmarthen to Paris, her results will not define her first Olympics.

“Looking back at the 10-year-old me always has a special place in my heart,” she says. “Even when I’m competing today, 10-year-old Emma’s proud no matter what.

“I’m literally living her dream. If I told her, in 10 years time you’d be world champion going to your first Olympics, I would’ve been like ‘no I’m not’. I really need to cherish that. That’s what keeps me grounded.

“My family love me no matter if I cross the line last or first. They are my values and as long as I hold onto them, the outcomes will be what they will be.”

There is not just talent in this 21-year-old - there is resilience too. She admits she struggled after winning that world title last year.

A 20-year-old with the iconic rainbow stripes on her jersey - and a target on her back.

“This year’s been one of the toughest years of my life,” she says. “People might not believe that because of the success I’ve had. But mentally it’s been so challenging.

Finucane won gold in the women's sprint at the Track Nations Cup in March

“After winning the rainbows, yes it was one of the best days of my life - but no one really tells you what happens after that. No one really tells you how to ride with the expectations that come with it.

“I think experiencing the rainbows and racing in that, I’ve learnt so much about myself, who I am and my values. So that’s something I strongly believe in and I’m going to take into the Olympics and really hold myself to.

“You can get really wrapped up in success and the media. I am just Emma. I’m a 21-year-old girl and I’m pretty normal. I don’t want to change because of the stripy jersey I wear.”

But do not get the impression Finucane isn’t dreaming of Olympic gold. Or golds.

She is just determined to continue enjoying her remarkable rise.

“I have thought about it [winning Olympic gold],” she says. “Because I want it.

“I’m not going to the Olympics just to be part of the crowd. I’m driven by being successful and winning Olympic gold medals. Even hearing you say it is making me emotional, because I’d love to do that. Whether it’s this Games or another one.

“But I also want to enjoy the journey. I don’t want to get to the end and not remember any of it.”

The competitive side of that 10-year-old from Carmarthen is still there.

She has promised to ‘pull things out of the bag’ with her performances on the boards over the next week.

But you can still expect her to smile, to enjoy the time spent with her teammates and to lap up the atmosphere... living her dream.