Emma Finucane: Welsh cyclist sets a new world record in speed racing

Emma Finucane set a new world record in the women’s 200m fly at the 2026 UEC Track Elite European Championships in Türkiye.

Finukani, a 23-year-old former Olympic and world champion, was nearly a quarter of a second off the previous best, with a time of 9.759 seconds during the qualifying round at the Konya track.

Shortly after fellow Briton Sophie Capewell became the second woman ever to ride under 10 seconds, Finucane surpassed her teammate’s time of 9.982 seconds at an average speed of 73.8 km/h (45.8 mph) to set the new world record.

“I told everyone I wanted to break this world record, and I think every girl participating in this competition wanted to seize the opportunity too,” Finucane said.

“I was really nervous to execute the perfect ride and I think I went out there and did everything I could technically.

“To come out and look at the board and see 9.759 and break the world record is unbelievable.”

The previous record of 9.976 seconds was set by Chinese Yuan Liing at the same race track last March.

The Welsh racer already holds the world team sprint record, which she set with Capewell and Katie Marchant in their gold-medal-winning run at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Finucane was the first British woman to win three medals at a single Olympic Games since 1964, and also took bronze in both the individual sprint and the freestyle.

Elsewhere, Joe Trueman took gold in the men’s one-kilometre time trial, setting a British record of 57.996 seconds.

Katie Archibald, Millie Cousins, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Kate Richardson took gold in the women’s team events.

However, in the men’s team pursuit, Matthew Bostock, Henry Hobbs, Will Tidball, Ben Wiggins and Olly Wood had to take bronze.