{"id":394604,"date":"2026-01-07T20:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394604\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T20:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:14:10","slug":"i-just-think-why-not-emma-finucane-on-world-records-and-stepping-outside-her-comfort-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394604\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I just think, why not?\u2019: Emma Finucane on world records and stepping outside her comfort zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emma Finucane is raring to go. With the European Championships in Konya on the horizon, her first goal of the season involves breaking some world records. It\u2019s an event she\u2019s very familiar with, having made history in 2024 by becoming Britain\u2019s first female European Champion in the sprint.<\/p>\n

\u2018I love racing the European Championships,\u2019 she tells Cyclist. \u2018I missed it last year but it\u2019s such a special competition and pretty highly stacked. I have big expectations for the sprint and I\u2019m going to try and break a world record.\u2019<\/p>\n

The track in T\u00fcrkiye might be a new experience for Finucane, but it\u2019s not a complete unknown. She was there supporting boyfriend Matthew Richardson at his sub-9 world records last August<\/a>, and admits that gives her a boost.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a really fast track and I just think, why not? I\u2019m sure a lot of girls will be trying to do the same thing. Yuan Liying was the first to go sub-10 [in the sprint] and she did it there. Obviously watching Matthew do it too ignited something in me. That\u2019s the first goal of 2026.\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a stacked year of track competition with Finucane ready to take on the National Championships, followed by rides at the Track World Cup and the World Championships in Shanghai in October, where she will look to reclaim the sprint and team sprint rainbow jerseys she last won in 2024. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second year in the Olympic cycle, which means the Commonwealth Games make an appearance too in the summer too, and Finucane relishes the opportunity to race for Wales. At the last Commonwealth Games, she claimed bronze medals in both the sprint and team sprint.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s so unique. It\u2019s a nice environment and we\u2019re such a small country. Last time I was 19 years old and I was so young; it was overwhelming. I think this time around I\u2019ll be able to soak it up more. We go back to Glasgow and I love that velodrome. It\u2019s different not racing for Great Britain because then you\u2019re lining up against your teammates, but that\u2019s what I love about it.\u2019<\/p>\n

When asked to think about what an ideal season would look like for her, a year she could be happy with, a gold medal for Wales was one of the standouts alongside dominance at the World Championships, a record in the bag and to \u2018feel proud\u2019 and \u2018confident\u2019 in how she\u2019s raced. There\u2019s an easy-going attitude to Finucane in some aspects \u2013 a deep drive to break world records while possessing a determination to enjoy things as they come to her. It\u2019s this attitude that should serve her well throughout her career as she continues to improve, win and break records.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s kind of like therapy for me.\u2019<\/p>\n

At this point in the Olympic cycle, there\u2019s an element of freedom. In the last year, Finucane was able to attend Formula 1 and Wimbledon, and started the Watts Occurring Femmes podcast with Manon Lloyd \u2013 attached to the successful Watts Occurring podcast led by Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was out of my comfort zone. I knew Manon would be a co-host and she\u2019s really good at presenting. I sat with it for a while, then eventually just thought, let\u2019s do it. I should enjoy other things more. The first episode I remember watching it back and just hating what I sounded like. Initially I was a bit like, oh I\u2019m not sure how to feel, but I committed and got into it more and I\u2019m loving it. Some of the topics as well, whether it\u2019s periods or women in sport or mental health related, it\u2019s like therapy for me.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d love to explore more on women in sport, for example how our bodies deal with periods. I didn\u2019t realise there\u2019s not much research on it. But it\u2019s about the questions of, why do I feel like I want to eat everything in the fridge when I\u2019m on my period? When your back hurts from it, what can you do?<\/p>\n

\u2018I want to get [Welsh ex-professional] Becky James on too. I\u2019d absolutely love to just pick her brain. Also, for me I would like to understand the road scene a bit more. Obviously I watch it and love it even being a track cyclist, but going into the intricacies and uniqueness of that side of the sport and knowing riders a bit more and bouncing off Manon.\u2019<\/p>\n

This level of work-life balance has been the biggest thing Finucane has learnt in the past year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel like I grew so much off the bike that now, going into 2026, I have more of a focus. I was asked recently why I don\u2019t feel like I do during the Olympics year every year. It\u2019s such a magical thing that happens every four years, and protecting this to appreciate the lead up to the Olympics more. I go into a routine then; I won\u2019t go home as much. If I want to be here for ten years, I need to have this balance.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cycling consumes you. It\u2019s your life. I love it, I wouldn\u2019t do it otherwise, but it\u2019s finding that balance \u2013 a time and a place for everything.\u2019<\/p>\n

Vauxhall is now the official automotive partner of Team GB, whose partnership will include the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games<\/p>\n

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