Double-Olympic champion Katie Archibald took time out of her preparations for the Olympics to speak schoolchildren in Essex.
Katie is one the UK’s most successful track cyclists. She won gold medals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. She has also won 25 World and European titles. This summer, she is aiming to become the first British woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.
Katie visited Woodville Primary School, in South Woodham Ferrers, to discuss her journey to becoming a champion. She spoke to 350 pupils about the benefits of activity and the important traits cycling has given her. This includes being a better team-mate and the importance of health, fitness and nutrition.
The visit comes one month before the 2024 edition of Ford RideLondon gets under way. Essex will host two stages of the Ford RideLondon Classique featuring some of the world's best female cyclists.
The mass participation rides of this year’s event also take place on Sunday 26 May. These are the Ford RideLondon-Essex 100, 60 and 30-mile challenges.
Katie said:
Visits like this where you can get kids excited about all of the opportunities that cycling can offer are really important. It is not just a way to stay healthy, but also a way to have fun, get a bit of a thrill, spend time with your friends and go places you didn’t think you could get to so I am very grateful to be able to talk to the children about it.
I had a fantastic audience and I got to show off about how fast I can go and what junk food I enjoy, when I am not training! I spoke about setting goals and how when you look a few steps into the future it is much less daunting than 10 steps ahead. It was a fun day talking sport and activity and I hope they were inspired to continue being active and get out on two wheels.
I am spending a lot of time training for the Olympics and it was nice to step away and do something completely different with such an inquisitive group of young people.
A new bike shed was installed at Woodville Primary School in 2023 to encourage more pupils to walk, cycle or scoot to and from school. This was with funding provided by Active Essex, which receives grants from the London Marathon Foundation to support community initiatives as a result of hosting the Ford RideLondon-Essex events.
Paul White, Deputy Headteacher at Woodville Primary School, said:
How many times in your life can you meet an Olympian and gold medallist and our pupils have listened to Katie’s stories and how she realised her dreams. It is brilliant to have such an inspirational person here, and I was blown away by the children’s responses and how much they obviously gained from speaking with her.
