Emma Finucane is used to being in the lead.

Ever since bursting onto the scene as a teenager at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Finucane has been a leading light of Great British cycling. Taking home a bronze in the team sprint and individual sprint, the then 19-year-old from Carmarthen has been a world-leading cyclist ever since.

A break-out 2022 ended with a World Championships bronze, and 2023 followed further success and recognition.

Wins in four events at the National Track Championships – sprint, team sprint, keirin, and 500m time trial – marked Finucane out as the next in a long line of great Welsh cyclists.

The World Championships in Glasgow followed, as did more medals. Gold in the individual sprint and silver in the team sprint. Suddenly Finucane went from a name known only to those within cycling circles to an Olympic ‘one-to-watch’.

Such was her achievement, only Victoria Pendleton and Wales’ Becky James had won an individual sprint world title for Britain before.

Further recognition followed as Finucane became only the Welsh cyclist aside from a certain Geraint Thomas to win BBC Cymru Sports Personality of the Year in 2023.

Should Finucane win gold in the individual sprint at Paris, she would become the youngest ever to do so.

One would expect to have achieved so much and such a young age would be daunting.

“I get asked about pressure a lot,” Finucane says.

“For me, it’s all about managing it. I try to use the pressure as confidence because it’s taking negative energy and making it into a positive that I can use in a race.

“Lots of people now believe in me, which is an amazing feeling, but I have my own expectations. My own goals and processes are something I will stick to in Paris.”

For Finucane, the 2024 Paris Olympics is her first Games, and she is keen to enjoy every minute.

“As long as I have a really strong feeling of enjoying the journey, making memories and remembering the little things, the outcomes will take care of themselves,” she adds.

“I want to be able to look back on Paris and remember that I didn’t get too wrapped up in the nerves of competing and the pressure.

“If my heart and my head are happy, then what will be will be and I’m just going to ride my bike and hopefully win a few races.”

In a sport where the difference between first and last can be a fraction of a second, Finucane understands that the battle is as much a mental one as it is physical.

“It’s all about staying present,” Finucane explains.

“I’d say its 50/50 mental and physical. If you don’t have that 50% mental, then physically you can be in the best shape of your life, but you will lose straightaway.

“Managing the mental side is my number one goal for the Games because I know I’m ready physically.”

Finucane is the leader of an emerging Welsh peloton on the track, with fellow sprinter Lowri Thomas travelling as a reserve, with Elinor Barker, Jess Roberts and Anna Morris in the track endurance team with Elinor’s sister Megan as a reserve.

Elinor, the elder of the two, is already a Welsh Olympic star, taking home a gold and silver in the team pursuit at Rio and Tokyo, respectively.

With Trott and Rowsell Shand now retired, and Archibald out of the Olympics with a freak leg-break, Elinor is now the old head of the team and gave birth to her first child, Nico, in 2022.

A mark of the competitor in Elinor was the pace of her return to professional racing. Nico was born in March 2022 and Elinor was competing again, representing Wales, just months later at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, a competition which saw Finucane break out as a young 19-year-old.

“It was such a cool experience,” says Finucane.

“Especially performing in the red of Wales. For anyone in Britain, the opportunity to wear their nation’s colours, whether it’s England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, the Commonwealth Games are almost on par with the Olympics.

“To compete with Lowri and Rhian was amazing. We were all so young and to see where we are now ahead of the Games is pretty special. I had no idea what to expect from the Commies, but to come away with two bronze medals was insane.”

Finucane, though, is now a known quantity within the world of cycling and is now used to the media attention that comes with it.

“I didn’t really know that the Commonwealths was going to be a springboard for my career,” says Finucane.

“I just thought, ‘oh, this is pretty cool’ as I started to get more media attention. From there, I just kept going and going. And now I’m going to an Olympics!”

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