Dame Laura Kenny: You learn early on that nothing is perfect, no life or child is perfect

Celebrated British cyclist and five-time Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny – one half of the beloved cycling golden couple, alongside her husband and fellow Olympian Sir Jason Kenny – recently gave birth to her third child Lilian and has revealed that motherhood has taught her that “no life or child is perfect”.

“When you have children, certainly when you’re pregnant, you have this idea in your head of what being a parent is going to be like, and then your first little one comes along, and it’s completely different to what you see as like an ideal situation,” reflects the 33-year-old, mum to Albie (7), Monty (1) and newborn Lilian. “For example, my eldest didn’t sleep through the night until he was four and that wasn’t how I imagined being a parent.

“But it’s all about being able to adapt and you learn from quite early on that nothing is perfect, like no life or child is perfect.”

Despite being warned about having two under two, the mum-of-three has been surprised at the chaos that has ensued, but says her eldest Albie, who turns eight in a couple of weeks, has been a great pair of extra hands.

“It’s chaos,” says Kenny with a laugh. “It’s funny, everyone warned me about two under two because Monty’s not quite two yet and it never even really crossed my mind. I was like, oh I’m fine with that, but now Lily’s actually here – it is kind of carnage.

“But Albie is so helpful, it’s unbelievable. When we had half-term, he was with us all the time, and then when he went back to school I was like, oh no, I’ve lost my extra pair of hands. My heart actually sank a little bit, but it is fine. We are getting used to our new normal.”

The most important lesson the retired professional cyclist hopes to instil in her children is confidence.

“The biggest thing cycling ever gave me was confidence,” says Kenny. “Sport gave me confidence because I was most comfortable there. The classroom and learning environment just wasn’t for me, but if you put me on a playing field, it changed my mentality completely.

“I don’t care whether any of the kids end up being professional sports people, but what I do care about is them taking part in sport, because I do think it gives you a sense of teamwork and confidence.”

The former Olympian adds that she is adamant to avoid becoming a “pushy parent”.

“I always say that there’s a real fine balance between being a pushy parent or being someone who is giving help or experiences,” says Kenny. “Albie goes to clubs and I watch parents on the sideline shouting, and the kid clearly doesn’t want to be involved, yet they are literally pushing them to do it. I just think that there is nothing worse than that.

“I just hope that I am never, ever that parent. I want to be able to shape my children’s experiences just like my mum and dad did.

“I’d like to think that we make them feel really comfortable in their own skin. I’d like to think that they should never feel like they can’t say something to us, and I would just hope that that instils a sense of confidence in them.”

Her mum, Glenda Trott, was a constant source of inspiration throughout Kenny’s childhood and now she hopes to be that same guiding presence for her own daughter.

“I hope that she can take something from my confidence and just believe that she can do anything, because ultimately, that is all I did,” says Kenny. “In 2000 my mum decided to lose weight and lost eight-and-a-half stone in a year and a half. She was such a determined, motivated person and when I reflect back on my career and the way I was as an athlete, I think that’s probably because of the way my mum was when I was growing up.

“My mum believed that she could lose an incredible amount of weight, and she did. I believed I could go on to the Olympics and win a gold medal.”

Having inspiring female role models growing up was incredibly important to Kenny, and she revealed that it was retired middle-distance runner Dame Kelly Holmes who first ignited her dream of competing in the Olympics.

“When she crossed the line, I remember how shocked she looked and that really stuck with me. That’s the first Olympic memory that I have,” reflects Kenny. “Unless the younger generation actually sees it, you don’t believe you can be something.

“Having strong female role models is so important. If a strong female steps out and does something so incredible it can make you think, wow, hang on a minute I can definitely do that, I’m not scared to go and do that.”

So, Kenny was shocked to learn from family history website Findmypast that the legacies of millions of women may go unrecognised in history. Research based on census data from 1841–1939, revealed that out of over 112 million working-age women, nearly 68 million were listed as “unoccupied” or similar terms, obscuring their real roles and contributions.

To shine a light on these hidden contributions, Kenny has teamed up with Findmypast on its new #HerStoryisYourStory campaign and has adorned the statues of women whose achievements are not reflected in their census records, like Florence Nightingale and Violette Szabo, in London with yellow #HerStoryisYourStory sashes. The campaign encourages people to explore and share the untold stories of women in their own family histories.

“I am a mum and a wife, but if my children’s children looked back at census records and it just said unoccupied as my occupation, I would feel pretty gutted that Olympian was never on there,” says Kenny. “I am a real family-orientated person, family is everything to me, and I just feel like it’s really important that we go back through our family’s history and actually give these women the recognition that they really deserve.

“In this campaign, we’re highlighting really famous people like Florence Nightingale and people who have statues in London, but it’s not just those people that have been affected. There’s literally millions, and everyone deserves the recognition of their job.”

Delve deeper into your female ancestors’ lives by visiting findmypast.co.uk/herstory where you can keep their legacies alive through billions of records and rich online archives.