FOR anyone who has ever watched Katie Archibald race, it’s easy to assume she is utterly oblivious to the pressure that comes with being World, Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Despite last year cementing her place as Scotland’s greatest-ever female cyclist by adding another Olympic title, World title and three European golds to her record, Archibald is far from immune to feeling the stresses of being at the very top of her sport.
“Maybe I look like I’m coping because I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to express it but I definitely feel the pressure,” the 28-year-old says.
“What I’m coming to terms with more as I get deeper into my career is not just the pressure on race day but more so the pressure I feel when I know I’m going badly in training.
“When that happens, I really feel the expectation of the results I’ve had previously and there’s also the pressure of wait a minute, Olympic champions don’t act like this.
“That’s a pressure that’s getting worse, not better.
“I wish it could be as easy as things like Nike adverts make it look; but it’s definitely not.”
Archibald has been, by anyone’s standard, a phenomenon over the past twelve months.
Her profusion of silverware in just one season was truly remarkable; as well as her major championship wins, she also added the women’s endurance title at the inaugural Track Champions League to her list of triumphs.
And it was these successes that, she admits, shifted how she views herself somewhat.
“It’s not so much the results but the way I was able to handle myself in the team changed through the Tokyo Olympics compared to the 2016 Olympics,” she says.
“I started to feel more secure and a bit more of an expert in my sport so that’s been the big change, rather than purely the results changing how I feel.
“It motivates you too, knowing you want to live up to that standard.”
Archibald is now ready to return to competitive action.
A back injury delayed the start of her season so her first appearance will now be at the Track Nations Cup in her home city of Glasgow later this month.
It is quite an ask to pick up this year where she left off last year but being on her home track at the start of what will be another huge year makes it easy to fend off any hint of an Olympic comedown.
The Commonwealth Games begin in just four months and with Archibald defending her individual pursuit title in Birmingham, she knows the coming weeks are vital for her.
“The Track Nations Cup in Glasgow will be my first international wearing the rainbow bands as omnium world champion so that’s pretty cool to be doing that at home,” she says.
“I’m super-motivated about the Commonwealth Games this summer so an opportunity to ride the Nations Cup at home is great because there’s something very special about it without the pressure of it being the big thing like the Commonwealth Games.
“So I can enjoy the home support without feeling like if it goes wrong, it’s the end of the world.”
It feels like Archibald and her GB teammates have barely had the chance to regain their breath after the Tokyo Olympics but already, her thoughts have turned to Paris 2024.
The Scot is aiming to emulate her compatriot Laura Trott’s tilt at a trio of Olympic titles; the team pursuit, madison and omnium and while Archibald is in no doubt as to the scale of the challenge that presents, she is also confident she is equipped to deal with the task.
“This Olympic cycle feels really, really short.
“For me, leading up to Tokyo, it was all about cracking the madison – I knew I wasn’t robust enough and strong enough to contend all three events.
“Not because I didn’t think I was a competitive omnium rider but it was the challenge of all three – the physical, emotional and mental burden that comes with competing in all three of those events in a five days window.
“So what I’ve been building towards now is being in a place where I understand the challenge, which I think I do, and see how I meet that demand.
“It’s not so much about whether I have what it takes – it’s more that I have the support it takes, the lifestyle it takes and I have the mental robustness that I didn’t in my younger self that it takes.
“Lockdown really helped me see the benefit of being home and so I moved back to Glasgow and I stripped back some of the stresses and it helped me with the training but it also made me hungry for more of the [performance] analysis stuff.
“So I feel much wiser to the task now.”
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