Imagine breaking a world record, only to realize it wasn’t even officially recorded. That’s exactly what happened in the world of track cycling this week, leaving fans and athletes scratching their heads. Katie Archibald and Sophie Lewis were hailed as the new world record holders in the Madison Kilo at the London 3 Day event, but here’s where it gets controversial: their achievement might not actually be a record at all—because no one seems to know what the previous benchmark was.
The Madison Kilo, a thrilling event where two riders complete a timed kilometre on the track, has long been a crowd-pleaser. The riders get a few laps to build speed before launching into a four-lap sprint, with one rider taking the lead for two laps and then handing off to their partner for the final stretch. The men’s record, set by Ed Clancy and Jon Mould in 2018, stands at an impressive 53.553 seconds. But the women’s record? That’s where things get murky.
Unlike major championship events, the Madison Kilo isn’t officially tracked by the UCI, cycling’s governing body. Instead, fans and athletes rely on unofficial sources like Wikipedia’s ‘List of world records in track cycling’—which, unsurprisingly, doesn’t even mention the women’s Madison Kilo. So, when Archibald and Lewis clocked 1:00.081 at London’s Lee Valley Velodrome last Friday, everyone assumed they’d set a new record. The crowd cheered, commentators celebrated, and the race moved on.
But four days later, Archibald dropped a bombshell on Instagram, questioning whether their time was even a record at all. She recalled a previous attempt she and Laura Kenny made during the now-defunct Revolution Series, which ended in 2018. And this is the part most people miss: Archibald hinted that their time might have been faster, but any documentation of it had seemingly vanished.
The plot thickened when Dutch cycling legend Kirsten Wild reached out to Archibald, reminding her of a Madison Kilo attempt she and Dani Rowe completed in 2018. A fan later unearthed a Facebook post from the Revolution Series confirming Wild and Rowe’s time: 59.564 seconds—over four-tenths of a second faster than Archibald and Lewis’s recent effort.
Archibald admitted, ‘I’m convinced we could have gone sub-60 [seconds] with some practice. Maybe next year.’ But her closing question echoed the frustration of many: ‘Can someone write it down this time?’
This saga raises a bigger question: How can we celebrate records if we don’t even know what they are? Should unofficial events like the Madison Kilo be better documented? Or is it time for governing bodies to step in and standardize record-keeping? Let us know your thoughts in the comments—this is one debate that’s just getting started.
