At 31, Kenny, in her remarkable career on the track, has garnered five Olympic gold medals and seven world championship titles.
In July, she welcomed her second child into the world and had previously set her sights on a fourth Olympic outing in Paris later this year.
“I always knew deep down that I would know when the right time came,” Kenny said in an exclusive interview with BBC Breakfast.
“I’ve had a great time, but now it’s time to hang up this bike.”
Married to former cyclist Sir Jason Kenny – Britain’s most decorated Olympian – Kenny added: “I’ve been aware for a while that the sacrifices involved, leaving your children and family at home, are really significant, and it’s truly a big decision to make.
“The more I felt it, the harder it became. More and more people were asking me which races I would be doing, which training camps I would be going on – ultimately, I didn’t want to go anymore, and that’s what it came down to.
“I knew once I started having those feelings. When I said to Jase, ‘I think I don’t want to ride a bike anymore,’ I began to feel relief.”
In 2017, Kenny gave birth to her first son, Albie, and then returned to cycling to prove that athletes can balance the demands of the sport with motherhood.
Following a miscarriage at the end of 2021 and an ectopic pregnancy just months later, the Kennys welcomed their second son, Monty, in 2023.
Previously, British Cycling’s performance director Stephen Park said in early March that Kenny had only a “slim chance” of competing in Paris.
“I got those hesitant feelings,” Kenny said.
“Winning another gold medal, as much as I would have liked to, didn’t give me the energy I wanted anymore. It just wasn’t the same.
“I wasn’t thinking, ‘I really want to win another one.’ I was thinking, ‘I really want to be at home with the kids.'”
Kenny said the logistics of taking Albie with her during her attempt to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic – were very stressful.
“Taking Albie around the world, traveling with him around the world, and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics was absolutely insane,” she said on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4.
“I think Jason and I had this kind of nice, simple picture and the picture that everyone wants: you can have a baby, come back, and win a gold medal – and it looks easy, and I’m telling you, it was anything but easy, it was absolutely insane.
“And there were so many sacrifices along the way; there were so many flights I had to book here, there, and everywhere. It was expensive.
“It worked, yes. But it didn’t come without some serious heartaches and sacrifices.”
Kenny’s illustrious career Already a three-time world champion at this point, Kenny rose to prominence when she won gold in the women’s omnium and team pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics.
Kenny said that was the “absolute pinnacle” of her career, with the 2012 Games being two life-changing weeks where her relationship with Jason also became public.
“I never thought I would go to a home Games, let alone win two gold medals.
“Looking back, I think, ‘Wow, those two weeks really changed my life.'”
Four years later, she repeated the omnium and team pursuit double at the Rio Games, becoming the first British woman to win four Olympic titles.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Kenny won silver in the team pursuit before she and Katie Archibald became the first Olympic champions
Thus, Kenny became the first British woman to win a gold medal at three consecutive Olympic Games, and the most successful female cyclist in Olympic history.
A fourth Olympiad in 2024 was her plan, but Kenny had not started team training before announcing her retirement. The Track Nations Cup in April in Canada would have been her last chance to accumulate the required points for qualification.
She won her last world champion’s jersey in 2016 on the London track, where she made her name, in the omnium and scratch race.
Kenny is also a 14-time European champion and won three medals, including two gold medals, at the Commonwealth Games.
What’s next? Kenny, who was made a dame in the New Year Honours of 2021, said she is “open to anything and everything” in the next chapter of her life.
As for the Olympics this summer, Kenny said she hopes to be involved “in some way.”
Park already said in early March, before news of Kenny’s retirement emerged, that he believes she will “continue to be involved” with the British Cycling team “in the years to come.”
“There’s nothing set in stone, but
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