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Rio 2016: Laura Trott wins 4th gold medal, asks 'Who says girls can't play sports?!'

The cyclist has become Britain's most successful female Olympian of all-time

Maya Oppenheim
Wednesday 17 August 2016 09:11 BST
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while Trott was pedalling to victory in the omnium, her fiancé Jason Kenny pushed to triumph in a tense final in the men keirin
while Trott was pedalling to victory in the omnium, her fiancé Jason Kenny pushed to triumph in a tense final in the men keirin

From a BBC commentator calling the women’s judo final a “catfight” to an NBC presenter saying Katinka Hosszú's husband was “the person responsible for her performance” after she won gold, the Rio Olympics has witnessed its fair share of sexism.

But Laura Trott’s impassioned reaction to winning a record fourth Olympic gold challenges this. In her own words: “Who says girls can't play sports?! I KEEP PLAYING and just won GOLD! #LikeAGirl”.

After all, at the age of just 24, the track and road cyclist has just won her second gold of the 2016 Games and become Britain’s most successful female Olympian of all-time. Trott finished with 230 points in the women's omnimum on Tuesday night, 24 clear of her nearest rival.

“Today just felt like a dream. I'm just kind of so tired I'm just floating through it,” she said after winning.

Trott is the most successful rider - male or female - in the history of the European Track Championships and had ten titles as of October 2015.

While Trott was pedalling to victory in the omnium, her fiancé Jason Kenny pushed to triumph in a tense final in the men's keirin. Kenny took his third medal at this Olympics and his sixth career Olympic gold, drawing level with Sir Chris Hoy. In turn, Trott and Kenny safely cemented their status as sport’s golden couple.

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