Laura Trott says she “didn’t even feel that good to start with” as she cruised to victory in the Olympic omnium and won a record fourth gold medal.
Trott became the most successful female British athlete at the Olympic Games with the victory, which came just a few days after winning gold in the team pursuit.
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But the 24-year-old says she didn’t know what to expect from her performance in the omnium after feeling “like a passenger” for some of the team pursuit.
“I really didn’t feel that good to start with, to be honest,” Trott said.
“Even in the team pursuit, I know we set a world record, but I just didn’t feel that good taking my turns. I was almost like a passenger sometimes in the team pursuit, so I really didn’t know how the omnium was going to go.”
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Despite the question mark over how she felt going into the omnium, Trott was able to take three wins out of the six events, with two further second place finishes, and lead the overall rankings almost from the outset.
“In the scratch race I was feeling a bit iffy,” she added. “I took it one race at a time, and I felt more and more confident as the race went on.
“I still feel like that little girl just riding around on a bike, but now I have all these gold medals.”
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Trott moves ahead of equestrian rider Charlotte Dujardin as the most successful female British Olympian with her four golds, but says that she never expected to be able to top her achievements at London 2012.
As a 20-year-old, Trott took victory as part of the team pursuit in London and rounded that off with a maiden victory in the omnium, and says that it was hard graft that got her in a position to do the double again in Rio.
Laura Trott (Watson)
“I am so proud at what I achieved,” Trott said. “I cannot thank the people in the background enough. I always thought how special London (2012 Olympic Games) was.
“I went there without any expectations, so to win two golds was just incredible, and then I thought, how on earth am I going to top that? We believed in ourselves, and in our team.”
“I worked day-in, day-out with those girls, and the team pursuit is what I really targeted. To come back and win the omnium, it’s just incredible.
“You realise how hard it is to do it all again. It was so hard to build myself up and come back again. We did a lot of work in the gym, and completely changed our programme.”
