Emma Finucane has made clear her goal to become “the most successful British sprinter” as she heads into her fifth UCI Track World Championships.
The 23-year-old is one of 20 riders who will represent Great Britain at the event in Shanghai, China this week. She enters the competition off the back of her most dominant season to date; she set a world record in the flying 200m en route to winning a European title in February, clean swept three events at the National Championships, four at the Commonwealth Games, and won at the UCI World Cups in Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Now looking to continue that golden run, Finucane said the upcoming Worlds are “going to be a big one”.
“This year we’ve raced a lot more than last year, so I feel like I’ve gained some consistency. I’ve got really good momentum off the back of Europeans and Commies. I definitely feel really good,” the Welshwoman said in a round table interview.
Finucane was 21 when she became Olympic champion in the team sprint in 2024 alongside Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant. The team will be without Marchant in Shanghai, replaced by Rhianna Parris-Smith, after the 33-year-old announced her retirement from the Great Britain Cycling Team last month.
“She paved the way for us,” Finucane said of Marchant. “She was in Rio [in 2016] getting a bronze medal. She’s been to three Olympic Games, won gold with us in Paris, and has been an absolute, I think for me, inspiration.”
It’s a similar legacy to what Finucane hopes will wait for her at the end of her career.
Asked what motivates her to keep winning races, she said: “I think it’s really important to look back on what I’ve done and be really proud. I can’t believe that I’ve done so much in my career already at 23 years old, but for me, moving forward, there are goals, like I want to win two individual gold medals in Los Angeles [Olympics 2028].
“There are many other things I want to achieve; I want to be the most successful British sprinter, and add more world titles. I think Victoria Pendleton's got nine.”
Pendleton claimed her first rainbow jersey in 2005 when she was 24. Finucane at 23 already has three, one collected in Glasgow in 2023 and two in Copenhagen in 2024.
She will be a favourite in each of the three events she is competing in in Shanghai: the team sprint, sprint and keirin. “I’ve been in this position before,” she said, and though that doesn't faze her, she knows things don’t always work out as expected; In Santiago de Chile last year, Finucane was relegated in the quarterfinals of the individual sprint for deviating into her opponent's lane. She finished the competition sixth overall.
“One thing I’ve really learned about myself is: yes, I can physically be in the best shape, but I have to take it race by race,” she said. “You have to get to the final first.
“I feel like, physically, I’m in a really good place. It’s all about mentally now executing every race, riding the people that are there. I think it’s going to be a really fast World Champs. I think people are going to come out with really quick times. I think the racing is going to be coming down to the line, but I’m ready to put up a fight and see what I can do.”
The UCI Track World Championships will take place at the Shanghai Velodrome on 14-18 October. Watch live in the UK on BBC iPlayer and TNT Sports.
The full Great Britain squad for the event is below.
Men’s endurance
Matthew Bostock
Henry Hobbs
Noah Hobbs
Mark Stewart
Ethan Vernon
Ollie Wood
Women’s endurance
Megan Barker
Erin Boothman
Millie Couzens
Josie Knight
Abigail Miller
Anna Morris
Men’s sprint
Harry Ledingham-Horn
Ed Lowe
Matthew Richardson
Joe Truman
Women’s sprint
Sophie Capewell
Emma Finucane
Rhianna Parris-Smith
Lowri Thomas