Emma Finucane insists talk of three gold medals at this summer’s Olympics is just noise, despite the endorsement of Dame Laura Kenny.

Finucane is the fastest woman in the world on two wheels this year and will arrive in Paris as the one to beat after claiming the individual sprint world title last year in Glasgow.

The 21-year-old will also go in the keirin and the team sprint alongside Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell as she bids to become the first female cyclist to win three golds at the same Olympics.

Five-time Olympic champion Kenny believes Finucane will do just that but the Welshwoman is keeping her feet on the ground.

“There is a lot of people saying things and I have learned to take it as confidence,” she said.

“It is pretty cool that she said that. She does have confidence in me and I will take confidence from that.

“I use it when I need it but I am going there with my own goals, my own expectations. This is my first Olympics, I have never done this before and I want to be realistic about it.

“It's nice to know the nation and people have my back and I will use that as fuel.”

Finucane is the new face of British Cycling after bursting onto the scene in 2023, with her individual sprint world gold the first for a British woman since fellow Welsh rider Becky James a decade prior.

It means that despite being just 21, Finucane arrives with plenty of experience of being the one to beat and is determined to take that with her to Paris.

“I am definitely grateful I have had that opportunity because when I won worlds I wish someone gave me a book to tell me what comes next and how you deal with it all,” added Finucane, who will be supported by Aldi’s Nearest & Dearest programme in Paris.

“I was clueless, I had no idea. It’s amazing you get to wear this rainbow jersey but the expectation that comes with it means you are expected to win, people think you are going to win early, and it’s not like that.

“I have learned how to deal with that, my brain has dealt with a lot and it has made me grow up quite a lot.

“Everything I have learned as a world champion, I will take into the Olympics.”

With such heavy expectations, Finucane could be forgiven for being weighed down at such a young age.

The Carmarthen cyclist admitted she has had to do plenty of growing up very quickly but insists everything has been worth it to make the Games in Paris.

“I feel much older than I am,” she said. “The girls are a lot older than me and I just fit in because that’s what I had to do. I have learned to mature quickly.

“At 21 people are going to uni and going out partying, I don’t regret that I haven’t done that because I wanted this. They are not sacrifices, they are choices that I’ve made.

“I do forget sometimes that I am 21. I am living my teenage dream. This is my job and I am going to the Olympics as a 21-year-old.”

Making the Olympics is a dream Finucane has now achieved, meaning thoughts can now drift towards the possibility of not just one but three gold medals.

And while Finucane is not getting carried away by the talk around her, she revealed she knows what her new dream looks like.

“I have visualised winning the Olympics,” she added. “I’m not sure who against or how but I have visualised it because I want that and it drives me every day to be the best version of myself. That’s driving me every day for the next month because I want to win that gold and to win that gold I need to be better than everyone else in the world.

“As an athlete you always have that hunger, you want to win. Every athlete is going to be out to win.

“At worlds I had a funny feeling throughout the whole week and I didn’t know what it was. My coach told me to think about winning and it helped me visualise, because you visualise it and you want it.”

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