{"id":296967,"date":"2023-10-24T08:25:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T08:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=296967"},"modified":"2023-10-24T08:25:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T08:25:48","slug":"emma-finucane-happy-to-drop-underdog-tag-in-pursuit-of-olympic-glory-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/cycling\/emma-finucane-happy-to-drop-underdog-tag-in-pursuit-of-olympic-glory-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Finucane happy to drop \u2018underdog\u2019 tag in pursuit of Olympic glory in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Emma Finucane is trying to ignore her new status as sprint world champion as she sets her sights on achieving Olympic glory in Paris next summer.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Welshwoman shocked herself when she took the women\u2019s individual sprint title in Glasgow in August, beating Germany\u2019s favoured Lea Friedrich in the final.<\/p>\n

Finucane donned the rainbow jersey for the first time in competition at the UCI Track Champions League opening round in Mallorca this weekend, but while the distinctive striped jersey means she can no longer keep herself inconspicuous, she does not want it to change her approach.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CysiM8nsMa4<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will look at me now,\u201d Finucane told the PA news agency. \u201cLast year I was kind of the underdog and I just came through so now I am wearing the stripes. I hope that doesn\u2019t really change anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to ignore it and just race my bike, but there is some external pressure. I\u2019m not just Emma at the back of the field anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rainbow jersey can do different things for different riders. While many take it as a confidence boost, for others the stripes have worn heavily. Finucane said she had spoken to several Great Britain team-mates about how to deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to look at it (as giving me a psychological edge) because if I lose, then what?\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I will get beaten, and that\u2019s fine. I just need to take it as it comes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of it is the mental battle of putting it on and people looking at you and having that pressure, but I\u2019m trying to embrace it and enjoy it because you don\u2019t know if it will happen again.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeth Shriever is a really good friend of mine and she\u2019s been the BMX world and Olympic champion. She said she didn\u2019t have the best year in the rainbow jersey because she put too much pressure on herself and she overthought it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to Evie (Richards, 2021 mountain bike world champion) and Katie Archibald (a five-time world champion on the track) and I\u2019m lucky we have so many inspiring women in the Great Britain team. It\u2019s great I can learn from them but ultimately I will only learn from myself and how I deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Finucane believes the Champions League \u2013 the made-for-TV track cycling series which is in its third season \u2013 is the ideal place to do much of that learning, providing some top-level competition without the stresses and pressures that come elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next event I\u2019ll do in the rainbows is the Euros (in January) which is when everything is serious,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying this isn\u2019t serious, but it\u2019s a nice place to be free to fail. You can try new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s racing in Palma saw Finucane finish second in the sprint, beaten by Germany\u2019s Alessa-Catriona Propster, before failing to make the keirin final through some tired legs. But it was just the sort of experience she was looking for when it came to dealing with her new status.<\/p>\n

Finucane will wear the stripes into an Olympic year but despite her status is taking nothing, not even squad selection, for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is guaranteed,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d love to go and I\u2019m really pushing myself but I need to take each race as it comes. If I just think about Paris and everything else goes wrong I\u2019ll not be going.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s in the back of my mind because since I was 10 years old I\u2019ve wanted to ride the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the GB sprint team we\u2019ll not just be going there to ride but we\u2019re looking for medals and I fully believe we have the potential to win. It\u2019s super exciting but also super scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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