Barker completes Olympic medal set in front of son

Elinor Barker celebrates Olympic bronze with her son Nico

Welsh track cyclist Elinor Barker says it was a special moment to complete her hat-trick of Olympic medals in front of her son Nico.

Welsh trio Barker, Jessica Roberts and Anna Morris were joined by Josie Knight in the GB quartet that beat Italy to clinch a podium position in the women's team pursuit.

Barker now has a complete set of Olympic medals having won gold in Rio in 2016 and silver in Tokyo five years later.

After giving birth in 2022, Barker has battled back to the top of her sport and her son was in the Paris velodrome to watch her win bronze.

"It is unreal," Barker told BBC Sport Wales.

"I am going to be showing him the medal first thing in the morning. I don't even know how to comprehend how special it has been.

"It's amazing to be able to show him photos when he is older, that he came to the Olympics and watched his mum get a medal and be on the Olympic podium.

"I am lost for words and I can't thank my partner Casper enough and I would not be able to do this without him."

The GB quartet overcame the absence of Katie Archibald, a two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion, who was ruled out just weeks before the Games after breaking her leg in a freak garden accident.

Mum's the word

Elinor Barker has won three Olympic medals

Barker found out she was pregnant on the day she won Olympic silver in the women's team pursuit in Tokyo.

The news produced a cocktail of emotions as she also came to terms with being left out of the GB quartet for their final against Germany after racing in the heats.

At that time, Barker says, Paris was not on her radar - but she has made a remarkable return to the sport after pregnancy.

She competed for Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when Nico was just five months old, then won two world titles in the team pursuit and the Madison in 2023.

"It is amazing," said Barker.

"One of my team-mates refers to every race I go to and result I get as my bonus career because it's one I did not expect to have.

"It's unbelievably special and that time I had when I was pregnant to reflect, and everything that has happened to this squad in the last three years, has made me so aware of how special it is to be at an Olympics.

"I think I have appreciated it more than the other two which I did not think would be possible."

Barker's three medals means she has become the second Welsh woman to claim a hat-trick of Olympic podium positions after sailor Hannah Mills.

She could add to this when she competes in the Madison with Neah Evans on Friday.

"This gives me a lot of confidence," said Barker.

"I am lucky to be partnering with Neah Evans. We are world champions in the event and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do there."

Wales women dominate bronze pursuit

The women's team pursuit bronze was the third track cycling medal of the Games for Team GB

While Barker is an Olympic veteran, it has proved a memorable Games debut for Morris and Roberts.

Barker and Morris were in the same year at Llanishen High School in Cardiff where Barker's younger sister Megan, the reserve rider in Paris, was also a pupil.

When the last Olympics took place in Tokyo, Morris was in a Gloucestershire hospital training to be a doctor. She had started cycling at university and would fit training around her shifts.

Morris paused her medical career to try - successfully - to make the 2022 Commonwealth Games for Wales, and did not stop there.

She moved on to the British Cycling programme in Manchester and has become an important part of the women's endurance squad.

Morris was part of the World Championship-winning team pursuit quartet in Glasgow last summer and has now picked up a medal in Paris.

"I am feeling such a mixture of emotions," said Morris.

"We have had an unexpected build-up to the Olympics as a squad.

"It's been an amazing journey and to have that memory with these girls and support team behind us and to finish it off with an Olympic medal is special."

'This was my dream'

Roberts, from Carmarthen, was always considered a hugely talented young rider but everything went on hold for her in 2021 as she was forced to take time away from cycling to recover from a long-standing back injury.

With that issue resolved, and after two Commonwealth Games appearances for Wales, she got the chance to race at her first Olympics.

"It is pretty surreal," said Roberts.

"It hit me when we crossed the line. I have got my family and friends here. It was so special.

"This is what I have dreamed of for ages. To do it with these girls and with what we have been through over the last few weeks with everything that has happened, it's amazing.

"The process has been so good, I have enjoyed everything and this has just finished it off."