Fuelled by the fear of returning to the family business selling beds for a living, Katie Archibald is ready to commit to the long-term goal of becoming a triple Olympian in Paris in 2024.

The 24-year-old says the prospect of leaving the sport could not be further from her mind as she aims to build on her three existing gold medals at next week’s World Track Cycling Championships in Poland.

A passion for improvement and a lack of attractive alternatives drive Archibald, who will be joined by her brother John for the first time in the 22-strong Great Britain squad.

Katie Archibald
Katie Archibald had to settle for omnium silver in Glasgow (John Walton/PA)

Archibald told Press Association Sport: “As far as I am concerned everything revolves around two wheels – it is my love and my passion and the only thing I can imagine doing over the next one or two decades.

“Like everybody else, I have days when I wish I could just be out of this environment entirely. But there’s nothing else pulling me – my other world is the family business selling beds.

“If I didn’t want to do this, I’d just get on a boat and go off and live in the jungle – although the principle relies very heavily on nobody knowing I’m in it.

“I’ve always thought I will be there at the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow, and that would lead into 2024, so that is an ambition – I’d love to go to a third Olympics, provided in the meantime I’m selected for Tokyo.”

Archibald, a three-time world champion who also won team pursuit gold at the Rio Olympics, endured a mixed performance in front of her home fans at the European Championships in Glasgow in August.

Another gold as part of the team pursuit squad could not hide the relative disappointment of settling for silver medals in the individual pursuit and the omnium.

Neah Evans
Neah Evans will partner Katie Archibald in the women’s madison (Martin Rickett/PA)

In Pruszkow, she will hope to step up her preparations for Tokyo as she returns to the team pursuit squad, as well as defending her title in the madison, where she will race alongside fellow Scot Neah Evans.

“I lost my individual title in Glasgow and I think that was the only performance I was capable of,” added Archibald. “It was a definite step up from previous Europeans.

“It was a successful championship but there was so much more I could have had.

“That’s what we have been getting our teeth into this entire season. I go into these worlds with a view of ultimate success, and that is gold medals.”