{"id":441746,"date":"2026-02-23T20:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441746\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:18:13","slug":"like-trying-to-race-a-rocket-ship-matthew-richardson-and-emma-finucane-score-clean-sweeps-at-british-track-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441746\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Like trying to race a rocket ship’ \u2013 Matthew Richardson and Emma Finucane score clean sweeps at British Track Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six titles at the British Track Championships<\/a> went back to the same house in suburban Manchester, after sprint couple Matthew Richardson<\/a> and Emma Finucane<\/a> clean swept all of their events.<\/p>\n

The pair won three gold medals apiece last week \u2013 sprint, keirin and team sprint \u2013 and in commanding fashion, too, both going undefeated in every heat across the four days.<\/p>\n

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After the competition finished on Sunday, and the fans filed out, Richardson and Finucane hung back to pose together trackside for the cameras. The photo will now make for the perfect mantelpiece keepsake: a memento to mark a faultless week of racing.<\/p>\n

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Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Finucane put her success down to \u201chard work, determination, and the love for winning\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe little me is so proud of myself,\u201d said the 23-year-old, who raced on Sunday in the blue bands of European sprint champion. \u201cYou don\u2019t know how long your career is going to be, so every moment like this, racing in front of my family and friends, I want to take it. I really enjoyed racing my bike here, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Emma\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Olly Hassell\/SWPix)<\/p>\n

After gapping the rest of the field in the keirin final earlier in the week<\/a>, Finucane put daylight into her rivals again in the sprint on Sunday, ultimately beating Iona Moir 2-0 in the final.<\/p>\n

One of the riders she knocked out during the day was PhD student Kathryn Hinton, who described competing against Finucane as \u201clike trying to race a rocket ship\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cShe could do it with her eyes closed, and still be two seconds ahead of me,\u201d Hinton said of the recent 200m flying lap world record breaker<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s cool. She\u2019s in the most phenomenal shape of any woman in track cycling history ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gulf between Richardson and his competitors was perhaps even larger. Racing for the first time as European sprint and keirin champion, the 26-year-old said the competition was \u201cmy training for the week\u201d, and still laid waste to every race.<\/p>\n

He rounded off back-to-back trebles<\/a> with a resounding victory in the keirin on Sunday, attacking long with two laps to go.<\/p>\n

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\"Matthew\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Olly Hassell\/SWPix)<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I needed a little bit more of a longer effort to keep that aerobic fitness in for this week\u2019s training,\u201d Richardson said afterwards.<\/p>\n

Asked earlier in the week what motivates him to compete at the Nationals, he said: \u201cI think it\u2019s important that we support racing in general, but obviously, especially British racing. The sport will die if we don\u2019t race and we don\u2019t put on a good show. I\u2019m trying to do my bit to keep the sport alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on the final day of the British Track Championships, 18-year-old Erin Boothman stunned Olympic medallists Anna Morris and Katie Archibald to win the elimination race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There was an unexpected winner, too, in the men\u2019s points race, as 20-year-old Ben Marsh edged out individual pursuit champion Charlie Tanfield<\/a> by just three points, winning with a tally of 57 to 54. The commissaires inside the velodrome initially declared Will Perrett to have retained his title \u2013 he celebrated with a raised fist as a result \u2013 before recounting the points and correcting themselves before the podium ceremony.<\/p>\n

The para-cycling trio of Jody Cundy, Rebecca Newark and Jacob Smith won the C1-5 mixed team sprint.<\/p>\n

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\nTrack cycling
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