 Finucane in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Emma Marion Finucane[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (2002-12-22)22 December 2002 (age 22)[2] Carmarthen,Wales,United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Current team | Team Inspired[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Track cycling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Sprint,Time trial,Keirin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Emma Finucane,MBE,OLY (/fɪˈnuːkən/fin-OO-kən; born 22 December 2002) is a Britishtrack cyclist. She is an Olympic gold medallist in theteam sprint, a two-time world champion in thesprint, and a world and European champion in the team sprint. At the2024 Summer Olympics, she became the first British woman to win three medals at a single games sinceMary Rand in 1964.
In 2019, Finucane became Junior European champion in the500 m time trial. At the senior level, Finucane won two bronze medals forWales at the2022 Commonwealth Games, in the sprint and the team sprint, and she became world champion for the first time at the2023 World Track Cycling Championships when she triumphed in the sprint. Her victory made her the third British woman to becomeworld sprint champion, afterVictoria Pendleton andBecky James. Finucane enjoyed further success in 2024, becomingEuropean champion in the sprint, winning three gold medals at theTrack Cycling Nations Cup inHong Kong, and then winning her first Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics inParis. There, she was a member of the British team sprint line-up who set a newworld record on their way to gold, and she added two further bronze medals in the sprint and thekeirin. She completed 2024 by becoming aworld champion in the team sprint for the first time, and she also successfully defended her world sprint title.
Finucane was born to parents Rory and Susie, and she grew up in the caretaker's house at Picton Barracks inCarmarthen.[5][6] She attendedSt John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School inLlanelli,[7] and she started cycling at aged eight atCarmarthen Velodrome, where she cycled with her sister Rosie and brother Sean. She then joined local club Towy Riders before later training at theWales National Velodrome inNewport.[5] She has since revealed that Welsh cyclistNicole Cooke was her idol while she was growing up.[8]
Finucane was spotted byBritish Cycling in 2018, and that same year she won four national titles in the under-16 category. They came in the500 m time trial,sprint,scratch race andmadison disciplines.[4][9] In 2019, she becameJunior European Champion in the 500 m time trial as well as finishing runner-up in both the sprint andteam sprint.[5] Finucane then won bronze medals in the sprint and the 500 m time trial disciplines at the2019 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships inFrankfurt.[10] Two years after she was first spotted by British Cycling, she moved toManchester, the home of theNational Cycling Centre.[11][12]
Finucane won two silver medals at the2020 British National Track Championships, which came in the500 m time trial andkeirin, respectively.[13] In 2021, she won silver in the team sprint at theUEC Under-23/Junior Track European Championships inApeldoorn.[14] Racing alongsideRhian Edmunds andLowri Thomas, Finucane became a senior national champion for the first time with victory in theteam sprint at the2022 British National Track Championships. She also won a silver medal in the keirin and bronze medals in both thesprint and the 500 m time trial.[15]
Representing Wales, Finucane won two bronze medals at the2022 Commonwealth Games inBirmingham. She overcameSophie Capewell of England in the bronze medal race in thesprint, and competing alongside Edmunds and Thomas, she claimed bronze in theteam sprint. Finucane described her two medals as "above and beyond" her expectations.[16] She then made her debut appearance at theUCI Track Cycling World Championships in October. Competing for Great Britain, she helped secure bronze in theteam sprint withLauren Bell and Capewell.[17][18]
Finucane won four national titles at the2023 British Cycling National Track Championships, taking her career total of national titles to five. Her victories came in the 500 m time trial, the sprint, the keirin and the team sprint (withKaty Marchant andMilly Tanner).[19] At the2023 UEC European Track Championships inGrenchen, Finucane won silver medals in both theteam sprint and thekeirin.[20][21] In theTrack Cycling Nations Cup, Finucane won bronze medals in the sprint and team sprint at the first round inJakarta,[22] before claiming sprint gold at the next round inCairo.[23]
At the2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships inGlasgow, she claimed her first senior world title as she took gold in thesprint competition. Her success made her the first British woman to become world sprint champion sinceBecky James in 2013, and the third British woman overall (afterVictoria Pendleton and James). She sealed victory by beatingLea Friedrich in the final.[24] Finucane also set a new sea level record time during her 200 m qualifying ride for the sprint.[25] Later in the competition, she was a member of the British trio who claimed silver in theteam sprint. Finucane was named 2023BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year.[26]
At the2024 UEC European Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Finucane won silver in theteam sprint, silver in thekeirin and gold in thesprint. Her gold in the sprint marked the first time that a British woman had claimed the European sprint title.[27][28] Her gold and two silvers also marked the best ever performance by a British sprinter, male or female, at theEuropean Track Cycling Championships.[5] In February, Finucane won gold in the team sprint at theTrack Cycling Nations Cup inAdelaide,[29][28] and the following month she won three gold medals at the next meeting of the competition inHong Kong, triumphing in the sprint, team sprint and keirin.[30][31]
At the2024 Summer Olympics inParis, Finucane, alongside teammates Capewell and Marchant, won the gold medal in thewomen’s team sprint. The trio broke theworld record three times during the event, ultimately setting the new record at 45.186 seconds in the final against New Zealand. Their success marked the first time that Great Britain had won Olympic gold in the women's team sprint, and Finucane called their success "unreal", adding, "All those tears we've cried, all those moments our legs have been hurting, it's all been worth it."[32][33] She later added a bronze medal in thewomen's keirin.[34][35] She then won her third medal of the games, a bronze in thesprint, to become the first British woman to win three medals in a single Olympic Games sinceMary Rand in 1964.[36] Finucane called her experience in Paris "a rollercoaster",[36] later adding that she had felt "overwhelmed" by the expectation on her to perform, and that she had learned to release her emotions before she raced.[37]
At the2024 UCI Track Cycling World Championships inBallerup, Finucane again teamed up with Capewell and Marchant to win gold in theteam sprint. They defeated the Netherlands in the final to claim the title. Victory marked the first time since 2008 that Great Britain had become women's team sprint world champions.[38][39] She then went on to defend her worldsprint title, overcomingHetty van de Wouw in the gold medal race.[40][41] Finucane was named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year for a second successive year in December 2024.[28] At the end of the year, Finucane revealed that she would concentrate on her training in 2025, and that she would not participate at either the British orEuropean Track Championships.[37]
In October, Finucane competed at the2025 UCI Track Cycling World Championships inSantiago. In theteam sprint, she rode alongside teammatesIona Moir andRhianna Parris-Smith, with the trio finishing in the silver medal position.[42] She then attempted to defend her worldsprint title, but was eliminated after a relegation following a rules infraction on track.[43] She concluded her championships with a silver medal in thekeirin.[44]
Finucane is a great niece of IrishSecond World WarRAF pilot Wing CommanderBrendan 'Paddy' Finucane (1920–1942), who in June 1942 became the RAF’s youngest wing commander at just age 21.[34]
In August 2024, she was reportedly in a relationship with fellow track cyclistMatthew Richardson.[45][46] As of 2024, she lives inBredbury, with fellow cyclistJessica Roberts.[47]
She was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2025 New Year Honours for services to cycling.[48]
Source:[14]
Team sprint (withRhian Edmunds andLowri Thomas)[15]
Team sprint (withRhian Edmunds andLowri Thomas)[16]Sprint
Team sprint (withSophie Capewell andLauren Bell)[17]Team sprint (withKaty Marchant andMilly Tanner)[19]SprintKeirin500 m time trial
SprintTeam sprint (withKaty Marchant andLauren Bell)[20]
Sprint
Team sprint (withSophie Capewell andLauren Bell)[50]
SprintTeam sprint (withKaty Marchant,Sophie Capewell andLowri Thomas)[27]
Team sprint (withKaty Marchant andSophie Capewell)[32]
KeirinSprintTeam sprint (withKaty Marchant andSophie Capewell)[38]SprintTeam Sprint (with Iona Moir andRhianna Parris-Smith)[42]Keirin
 UCI Track Cycling World Champions –Women's team sprint | |
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