Multiple Olympic and world champion cyclist Katie Archibald retires to become nurse
Endurance specialist won Olympic gold in Rio and Tokyo‘I don’t know where I’ll get these feelings again’Katie Archibald, the Scottish track cyclist who won gold medals at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, has announced her retirement with immediate effect.The decision means the 32-year-old, who also won multiple world, European and Commonwealth titles, will not compete in the summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.Archibald said: “The draw of the real world has been pulling me for a while, but I’ve been too scared to leave the world I know and love and, ultimately, to let go of something I’m good at.”She is now retraining to be a nurse.“I’ve fallen completely in love with the whole thing,” Archibald said.
“When I let my friends and teammates know I was retiring from sport, they assumed it was because I wasn’t coping doing both.”Archibald, who also won team pursuit silver at the Tokyo Games along with gold in the Madison, first came to prominence through grass-track racing against men at events such as the Highland Games.She was then selected for the Great Britain academy squad at Manchester velodrome.“When you’re 19 and somebody says: ‘We’ll let you train full-time and target the Commonwealths and maybe even an Olympics,’ there’s never going to be another thought which says: ‘Ah, well, what are my other options?’” she told the Guardian in 2024.“It was the most unbelievable opportunity and thank goodness I went for it.
”She proved a quick learner and, as one of a stellar quartet, won the 2013 European team pursuit title on her competitive debut alongside Laura Kenny, Dani Rowe and Elinor Barker.She became a serial medal winner, taking six European titles, a world title and a Commonwealth Games bronze in the buildup to her Olympic debut in Rio 2016, where she won team pursuit gold with Kenny, Barker and Joanna Rowsell.In 13 years of racing Archibald won 51 medals while at world, European, Commonwealth and Olympic levels to establish herself as one of track cycling’s highest achievers.However, alongside the highs were some traumatic lows, none more so than the unexpected death of her partner, Rab Wardell, in 2022.At the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow, Archibald led Team GB’s pursuiters to an emotionally-charged victory.
The empathy and emotional intelligence that made her such a popular and resilient teammate has fuelled her transition from competition to nursing.“I really want to stress that the nursing training isn’t forcing me into retirement,” she said.“At the same time, this thing that I am just enamoured with is making me excited for the future, and that makes this transition less scary.”Team GB’s performance director, Stephen Park, described Archibald as “relentless” and said that “her performances on track and habits and characteristics, off the bike, set the tone for the rest of the team and elevate those around her.“She is an incredibly generous member of the squad, having supported the development of many young riders who were initially inspired by her to take up the sport, and have been able to enjoy huge moments in their career as her teammate.
”Archibald said she would “keep learning, keep seeing the world, keep meeting incredible people,” but added: “I don’t know where I’ll get these feelings again, though.”“Riding the last lap of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games team pursuit final, I was so connected to the effort it was – just as in 2014 – like my mind left my body,” she said.“I don’t know if I’ll be able to experience that feeling in the future.”
Court rules Coles misled shoppers with its ‘Down Down’ discount campaign
Coles misled Australian shoppers by promoting fake “Down Down” discounts on everyday grocery products, the federal court has ruled in a landmark decision for the supermarket industry.Justice Michael O’Bryan handed down his judgment on Thursday, delivering a significant blow to Australia’s second-largest supermarket chain, which had argued that the discounts represented genuine savings during a period of high inflation.He found the supermarket giant had engaged in misleading conduct, in contravention of the Australian consumer law.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued Coles and its rival Woolworths, accusing the supermarket giants of duping shoppers between 2021 and 2023 by using promotional programs to disguise price increases on hundreds of products.O’Bryan’s verdict in the Coles case – which was heard in February – comes before his decision in a similar trial against Woolworths, which was heard in Sydney in late April and early May and which the judge will rule on later this year
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Fears of higher mortgage rates and rising inflation as a result of the Middle East conflict are leading to a subdued and downbeat housing market, according to estate agents.Demand from potential homebuyers across England and Wales has shown a “noticeable softening” recently, according to a monthly survey of estate agents by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).Members have told the professional body that buyers and sellers are becoming more cautious, and many agents have cited clients who are worried about whether inflation and interest rates will rise in the coming months, leading to slower sales, fewer homes on the market, and more price-sensitive buyers.The Bank of England warned last month that interest rates may have to increase in the coming months as “higher inflation is unavoidable” because of the war in the Middle East and resulting jump in oil and gas prices.At the same time, mortgage rates are likely to be affected by the current sharp rise in government borrowing costs, as swap rates – which lenders use to price their fixed-rate mortgages – tend to move in tandem with government bond yields
Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says
Datacentres are consuming 6% of electricity in the UK and US, with the growing strain of AI on energy supplies prompting community resistance, according to research.The proportion of electricity used by vast warehouses stacked with microchips to power AI and the internet has risen 15% worldwide in the past two years as annual global investment in datacentres approaches $1tn (£740bn) – nearly 1% of the global economy, according to the International Data Center Authority (IDCA).The figures come amid energy shortages in the UK and datacentre developers reporting waits of several years for national grid connections. The IDCA said rising power usage globally was “sparking societal and political concerns” and called on tech companies to become more transparent about their plans for new datacentres to tackle “community frustration”.The Guardian this week reported that developers working for Google significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres would contribute to the UK’s total emissions
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The billionaire chief executive of the chipmaker Nvidia, Jensen Huang, has joined Donald Trump’s China delegation after a reported last-minute invitation, highlighting the US’s AI and tech ambitions.Huang will join a roster of US bosses including the Tesla chief executive and X owner, Elon Musk, the Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, and Goldman Sachs’s David Solomon at Trump’s 36-hour meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.The high-stakes summit is the first overseas trip for Trump since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February. The summit is expected to cover topics including that conflict, tariffs and China’s relationship with Taiwan.Huang was not on the initial list of business delegates, according to reports
Ivan Cleary begins long goodbye with a legacy built to last long after he leaves Panthers | Nick Tedeschi
The great coaches all have something special that elevates them above others. Wayne Bennett built his success on connection and an ability to authentically forge relationships with generation after generation of players. Craig Bellamy has a foundation of deifying work ethic and simple communication. Trent Robinson, intellect and loyalty.Ivan Cleary is an engineer, the ultimate believer in process, a coach at once ruthless and relatable who dreamt of building a bigger and more complex machine that could sustain itself beyond the people it was initially built around
Sarah Taylor named England men’s fielding coach while Gay, Rew and Baker are called up
On a day when England named three uncapped players in their Test squad, brought Ollie Robinson out of cold storage and officially confirmed a new selector had joined the set-up, perhaps the most significant news was the identity of their fielding coach.Sarah Taylor, the former England wicketkeeper, will be in charge of the fielding drills during the three-Test series against New Zealand that begins at Lord’s on 4 June – the first female coach to work in the men’s senior setup.The fact that Rob Key, the England men’s team director, almost mentioned it in passing was fitting for a coach who has quietly risen through the ranks. Taylor, 36, has held a number of roles in the men’s game since hanging up her gloves five years ago, including spells with Sussex men and Manchester Originals in the Hundred.This latest post is just for the New Zealand series initially but may continue through the summer
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