Emma Finucane secures World Championships bronze in keirin

Emma Finucane finished a successful, albeit bittersweet, week at the Track Cycling World Championships with a bronze medal in the keirin, narrowly missing gold by just 14 thousandths of a second. The 23-year-old Welsh cyclist also claimed silver in both the team and individual sprint events earlier in the week in Shanghai, marking the first time she has medaled in all three events at a World Championships.

Finucane was unable to add to her two rainbow jerseys, which she won in the sprint events in 2023 and 2024. On Sunday, she was edged out by neutral athlete Alina Lysenko for the gold, while Germany’s two-time keirin world champion Lea Sophie Friedrich secured the silver medal.

Reflecting on her performance, Finucane expressed her determination: “I had a special feeling about today, I felt really strong and going into that final, I don’t know what else I could have done, to be honest. I raced with my instinct, I didn’t come off thinking ‘I wish I gave more’, I gave it everything I could out there. To get a bronze medal at the end of it is something to be really proud of. This is the first time I’ve medalled in all three events at a World Championships.”

Finucane added, “I really, really want that gold! And for a split second I was like ‘maybe I’ve got it’. The field today was really stacked; women’s sprint is just moving forward, and to be part of it, medalling in every event, I can be really, really proud of that.”

The confidence she gained from this competition gives her hope for the future as she concluded, “All the momentum, all the confidence I’ve gained this week, I think I can be really proud of that. Roll on LA [2028]!”

In the team sprint, Finucane won silver alongside Sophie Capewell, her teammate from the gold medal-winning squad at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Notably, Rhianna Parris-Smith replaced the now-retired Katy Marchant in their recent trio. Great Britain topped the medal table in Shanghai, taking home 12 medals, which included six golds. Anna Morris notably secured a hat-trick of rainbow jerseys, while Great Britain continued to dominate the women’s endurance events, claiming victories in the Madison, omnium, and team pursuit, as well as earning gold and silver in the individual pursuit.