Hamish Turnbull determined to emulate heroics of cycling royalty at Paris 2024

By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat

HAMISH Turnbull will have Britain’s greatest Olympian in his corner when he takes to Paris stage this summer.

But while the 24-year-old track cyclist from Morpeth might be trained by seven-time Olympic champion Sir Jason Kenny, it is another cycling knight of the realm who is his ultimate idol – Sir Chris Hoy.

Turnbull has been named in Team GB’s team sprint squad for the French capital, alongside Tokyo silver medallist Jack Carlin, and fellow Olympic newbie Ed Lowe.

And the Olympic debutant is determined to follow in the footsteps of Hoy and Kenny when he gets his chance to shine at the Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

Turnbull said: “London was the first Olympics I remember watching but I was on holiday in the south of France and there was so much to do there.

“We were going to the beach and the pools and hiking, so I do not think we actually watched much of the Olympics.

“But the key moment for me was watching Chris Hoy win in the keirin, when everyone was coming over the top of him and then the crowd was like ‘woah’ and he finds that extra little bit and comes back underneath everybody.

“That was amazing and watching that for the first time has always stayed with me. To be honest, that's what drives me. Something like that for myself and having the crowd cheer me on would just be an absolutely experience of a lifetime.”

Turnbull has always been a precocious talent. He got onto the GB squad at just 14 and won a first national title in 2020, becoming the youngest rider in history to win a national sprint title.

Since then, he has a medal at world level – a bronze in 2022 at the Olympic venue - as well as a silver medal in the team sprint at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Now, he will be looking to add an Olympic medal to the collection, explaining that Kenny is the perfect mentor to succeed on that stage.

He added: “Having Jason as our coach, he’s the most decorated British Olympian ever.

“He is there on the start line, feeding you tactics and information. He’s done it all before, better than anybody ever, so it gives you a lot of confidence that he knows what he’s talking about.

“He’s a super relaxed guy and nothing really fazes him. Sometimes coaches can get a little bit passionate and emotionally charged, and when that happens, people can start making mistakes.

“But Jason has always got a level head. It’s what we need, a bit of stability.”

Kenny was part of three gold medal-winning team sprint squads, triumphing in Beijing, London and Rio, before taking silver in Tokyo.

With that comes pressure, but while reigning Olympic champions the Netherlands remain the team to beat, Turnbull is confident GB can challenge for a place on the podium for the fifth Games running.

“There’s pressure being in an event that GB has been amazing at,” added Turnbull, who will be supported by Aldi’s Nearest & Dearest programme in Paris.

"I think we still are, it’s just that other countries are really good as well now.

“Specifically, the Dutch, who won in Tokyo and have pretty much, other than one year, had the Worlds on lockdown. And then the Aussies, the team who took the one world title from the Dutch, they have been going amazingly quickly as well.

“But we’ve had a Worlds medal in this cycle, which means we’re going to be fighting for the podium, which is really exciting, and a lot of pressure. It’s very cool.”

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024