Emma Finucane (/fɪˈnuːkən/ fin-OO-kən; born 22 December 2002) is a Welsh track cyclist.[4][5] She is the 2023 UCI world champion in women's individual sprint, the third Briton (after Victoria Pendleton and Becky James) and second Welsh woman (after James) to win the world title. In the Paris 2024 Olympics, she became the first British woman to win three medals in a single Games since Mary Rand in 1964.
![]() Finucane in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | [1] Carmarthen, Wales, United Kingdom | 22 December 2002||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Brother UK-Orientation marketing[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Track cycling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rider type | sprint, time trial, keirin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Cycling career
editHaving previously won two silver medals at the 2020 British National Track Championships, Finucane became a British champion when winning the team sprint event at the 2022 British National Track Championships. She also won a silver medal and two bronze medals at the same Championships.[6][7]
Later that year, Finucane went on to win bronze medals in both the sprint and team sprint at the Commonwealth Games.[8]
Finucane was the star of the 2023 British Cycling National Track Championships, after she won four national titles (taking her total to 5). They were the 500 m Time trial, the Sprint, the Keirin and a second team sprint title.[9][10] At the 2023 UCI World track cycling championships in Glasgow, at the Chris Hoy National velodrome, she claimed her first major title as she took gold in the women's track sprint competition — the first British woman to do so since Becky James in 2013 — beating Lea Friedrich of Germany in the final.[11] During the flying 200 sprint qualifying she set a new British record and a new sea level record time of 10.234s.[12][circular reference] She was also part of the British Women's Team sprint team who took silver in the same competition.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Finucane, alongside teammates Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant, won the gold medal in the women’s team sprint. The team broke the world record three times during the event, ultimately setting the new record at 45.186 seconds in the final.[13][14] She later added a bronze medal in the women's keirin.[15][16]
Personal life
editFinucane is a great niece of Irish Second World War RAF pilot Wing Commander Brendan 'Paddy' Finucane (1920–1942), who in June 1942 became the RAF’s youngest wing commander at just age 21.[15]
Major results
edit- 2022
- National Track Championships
- 1st Team sprint (with Rhian Edmunds and Lowri Thomas)
- Commonwealth Games
- 3rd Team sprint (with Rhian Edmunds and Lowri Thomas)
- 3rd Sprint
- UCI Track World Championships
- 3rd Team sprint (with Lauren Bell and Sophie Capewell)
- 2023
- National Track Championships
- 1st Team sprint (with Katy Marchant and Lowri Thomas)
- 1st Sprint
- 1st Keirin
- 1st 500 m time trial
- UCI World Championships
- 1st Sprint
- 2nd Team sprint
- UEC European Championships
- 2nd Sprint
- 2nd Team sprint
- 2024
- UEC European Championships
- 1st Sprint
- 2nd Team sprint
- Olympic Games
- 1st Team sprint (with Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell)
- 3rd Keirin
- 3rd Sprint
References
edit- ^ "Profile". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Emma Finucane". UCI Track Champions a League. UCI. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Points". British Cycling. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Athlete Blog". British Athletes Commission. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "BRITISH TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3". Velo UK. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "2022 National Track Championships". British Cycling. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Welsh teenagers light up home cycling championships". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games: Cyclist Emma Finucane claims second bronze medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ "2023 British Cycling Track Championships Results". Velo UK. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "Emma Finucane: Welsh cyclist wins four golds at British National Track Championships". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "Cycling World Championships 2023: Emma Finucane claims first major title with gold in women's sprint". BBC. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ List of British records in track cycling
- ^ "British trio win women's team sprint gold". BBC Sport. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "Paris 2024 Olympics: Record-breaking Team GB storm to stunning gold in women's team sprint". Eurosport. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ a b Whittle, Jeremy (8 August 2024). "'Means everything to me': Finucane delighted with bronze in Olympic keirin". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "GB's Finucane takes keirin bronze for second medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
External links
edit- Emma Finucane at UCI
- Emma Finucane at Cycling Archives
- Emma Finucane at CycleBase
- Emma Finucane at Commonwealth Games Wales
- Emma Finucane at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games