Emma Finucane

Emma Finucane
MBE
	Finucane in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Emma Marion Finucane
Born	22 December 2002 (age 22); Carmarthen, Wales, United Kingdom
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Team information
Current team	Brother UK-Orientation marketing
Discipline	Track cycling
Role	Rider
Rider type	sprint, time trial, keirin
Medal record
Women's track cycling
Representing Great Britain
Olympic Games
World Championships
European Championships
Representing Wales
Commonwealth Games

Emma Finucane (/fɪˈnuːkən/ fin-OO-kən; born 22 December 2002) is a Welsh track cyclist. She is an Olympic champion in the team sprint, a two-time world champion in the sprint, and a world and European champion in the team sprint. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she became the first British woman to win three gold medals at a single games since Mary Rand in 1964.

In 2019, Finucane became Junior European champion in the 500m time-trial. At senior level, Finucane won two bronze medals for Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, in the sprint and the team sprint, and she became world champion for the first time at the 2023 World Track Cycling Championships when she triumphed in the sprint. Her victory made her the third British woman to become world sprint champion, after Victoria Pendleton and Becky James. Finucane enjoyed further success in 2024, becoming European champion in the sprint, winning three gold medals at the Track Nations Cup in Hong Kong, and then winning her first Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. In Paris, she was a member of the British team sprint line-up who set a new world record on their way to gold, and she added two further bronze medals in the sprint and the keirin. She completed 2024 by becoming a world champion in the team sprint for the first time and she also successfully defended her world sprint title.

Early life

Finucane was born to parents Rory and Susie, and she grew up in the caretaker's house at Picton Barracks in Carmarthen.^[5]^[6] She started cycling aged 7/8 at Carmarthen Velodrome, where she cycled with her sister Rosie and brother Sean. She then joined local club Towy Riders before later training at the Wales National Velodrome in Newport. Finucane was spotted by British Cycling aged 16, and she started training at Manchester two years later.^[5]^[7] In 2019, she became Junior European Champion at the 500m time-trial as well as runner-up in both the sprint and team sprint.^[5] Finucane then won bronze medals in the sprint and the 500m time-trial disciplines at the 2019 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Frankfurt.^[8]

Cycling career

Finucane won two silver medals at the 2020 British National Track Championships, in the 500m time-trial and keirin respectively.^[9] In 2021, she won silver in the team sprint at the UEC Under-23/Junior Track European Championships in Apeldoorn.^[10] Finucane became a national champion for the first time with victory in the team sprint at the 2022 British National Track Championships. She also won a silver medal in the keirin and bronze medals in both the sprint and the 500m time-trial.^[11]

Representing Wales, Finucane won two bronze medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She overcame Sophie Capewell in the bronze medal race in the sprint, and was also a member of the Welsh trio who finished third in the team sprint. She described her two medals as "above and beyond" her expectations.^[12] Finucane then made her debut appearance at the Track Cycling World Championships in October. Competing for Great Britain, she helped secure bronze in the team sprint.^[13]^[14]

Finucane won four national titles at the 2023 British Cycling National Track Championships, taking her career total of national titles to five. Her victories came in the 500m time trial, the sprint, the keirin and the team sprint.^[15] At the 2023 European Track Championships in Grenchen, Finucane won silver medals in both the team sprint and the keirin.^[16]^[17] In the Track Nations Cup, Finucane won bronze medals in the sprint and team sprint at the first round in Jakarta,^[18] before claiming sprint gold at the next round in Cairo.^[19]

At the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, she claimed her first senior world title as she took gold in the sprint competition. Her success made her the first British woman to become world sprint champion since Becky James in 2013, and the third British woman overall (after Victoria Pendleton and James). She sealed victory by beating Lea Friedrich in the final.^[20] Finucane also set a new sea level record time during her 200m qualifying ride for the sprint.^[21] Later in the competition, she was a member of the British trio who claimed silver in the team sprint. Finucane was named 2023 BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year.^[22]

At the 2024 European Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Finucane won a silver in the team sprint, a silver in the keirin and a gold in the individual sprint. Her gold in the sprint marked the first time that a British woman had claimed the European sprint title.^[23] Her gold and two silvers also marked the best ever performance by a British sprinter, male or female, at the European Track Cycling Championships.^[5] In February, Finucane won gold in the team sprint at the Track Nations Cup in Adelaide,^[24]^[23] and the following month she won three gold medals at the Track Nations Cup in Hong Kong, triumphing in the sprint, team sprint and keirin.^[25]

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Finucane, alongside teammates Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant, won the gold medal in the women’s team sprint. The team broke the world record three times during the event, ultimately setting the new record at 45.186 seconds in the final against New Zealand. Victory marked the first time that Great Britain had won Olympic gold in the women's team sprint and Finucane called their success "unreal", adding "All those tears we've cried, all those moments our legs have been hurting, it's all been worth it."^[26]^[27] She later added a bronze medal in the women's keirin.^[28]^[29] She then won her third medal of the games, a bronze in the sprint, to become the first British woman to win three medals in a single Olympic games since Mary Rand in 1964. Finucane called her experience in Paris "a rollercoaster",^[30] later adding that she had felt "overwhelmed" by the expectation on her to perform, and that she had learned to release her emotions before she raced.^[31]

At the 2024 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Ballerup, Finucane teamed up with Capewell and Marchant to win gold in the team sprint. They defeated the Netherlands in the final to claim the title. Victory marked the first time since 2008 that Great Britain had become women's team sprint world champions.^[32]^[33] She then went on to defend her world sprint title, overcoming Hetty van de Wouw in the gold medal race.^[34]^[35] Finucane was named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year for a second successive year in December 2024.^[23] At the end of the year, Finucane revealed that she would concentrate on her training in 2025, and that she would not participate at either the British or European Track Championships.^[31]

Personal life

Finucane is a great niece of Irish Second World War RAF pilot Wing Commander Brendan 'Paddy' Finucane (1920–1942), who in June 1942 became the RAF’s youngest wing commander at just age 21.^[28]

Her partner is track cyclist Matthew Richardson.^[36]^[37] In 2024, she lived in Bredbury, with fellow cyclist Jessica Roberts.^[38]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to cycling.^[39]