'It’s a team event but we’re fighting each other' – Emma Finucane on the internal battle for Olympics selection

Emma Finucane has revealed that, despite her individual sprint victory at the UCI World Championships in August, there is not a guaranteed spot for her in the Team GB squad for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.

Speaking to GCN at the UCI Track Champions League, Finucane said: "At Team GB we have quite a lot of sprint girls going for the three spots, so I'd love to be part of it and that's my ultimate goal."

Yet there is no certainty that Finucane will make it to Paris: "Anything can happen in the next year so I'm just going to take each race as it comes.

"Whether I make it or not, we'll see," she added.

© UCI Track Champions League

A busy squad; Britain has 14 riders at the UCI Track Champions League

Asked whether she thought Team GB's decision to pick the team so close to the event was odd, she responded: "It is odd how close to the Olympics they pick the team, but I guess that's how it goes because you want to find the best team on that day."

In reality, there is little doubt that Finucane will make the squad for the team sprint, but selection for the individual sprint remains complicated, with teammate Katy Marchant also a former medallist in the discipline.

That said, although she didn't win the first round of the Track Champions League, her fourth-place finish put her clear of her British teammates in the results tables as Paris comes into view.

GCN asked the British athlete whether the pressure of Olympic selection was changing the dynamic within the squad. Only three will go to the line-up, and only one will fill Team GB's spot in the individual sprint.

"It is a team event," she explained. "But we are fighting each other."

As a result, says Finucane, "the dynamic is starting to change a bit more, even this far out."

"You will see people starting to focus more and starting to maybe not speak to each other anymore. It is hard when, obviously, the team sprint is the main goal for us."

In the face of an ever-more-complicated team dynamic, Finucane said: "I'm just going to ignore it as much as I can."

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