'ALBIE WANTS A BROTHER - I WAS SO RELIEVED WHEN I SAW THE SCAN'

CYCLING LEGEND DAME LAURA KENNY SHARES HER DELIGHT AT EXPECTING A SECOND SON

- NICOLA FAHEY

They may be staying tight-lipped about the name they’ve chosen for their second child, but cycling’s golden couple Sir Jason and Dame Laura Kenny have exclusively revealed the gender of their new baby. “We’re having another little boy,” beams Laura, who’s due in July.

The four-times Olympic champion, who already has a five-year-old son, Albie, with Jason, adds, “We asked Albie what he wanted and he kept saying a little boy. I said to him, ‘What happens if we get a baby sister?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t want it.’

“I’ve never felt so relieved as when we got the result. We showed him the scan and he said, ‘I hope he grows up quickly.’ He wants the baby to be born aged five!”

Giving just a little teaser about the name, she says, “I love a name that can be shortened. Albie is Albert Louie and there’s an abbreviation again this time. I feel choosing the name is important for Jase, as it helps him feel connected.”

As for her own gender preference, Laura admits, “We didn’t have a preference. As we’ve been through so much trauma we just wanted a baby that was well.”

Laura suffered two heartbreaking losses before this pregnancy – a miscarriage in 2021 was followed two months later by an ectopic pregnancy that led to her undergoing lifesaving treatment to remove a fallopian tube.

She miscarried while commentating at a race in Mallorca. Then, last October, she was hit by a wave of nausea when she touched down for a bike race on the same island. Scouting out an airport pharmacy, she picked up a pregnancy test and darted into a nearby toilet.