Team Scotland track sprinter Ali Fielding has announced his retirment from Great Britain Cycling Team after eight years in the sport that saw him claim World Championship bronze and European championship silver.
Fielding’s career kicked off with victory in the form of a team sprint gold medal at the 2021 UEC U23 European Track Championships alongside Hamish Turnbull, Hayden Norris, and James Bunting. This early achievement marked the first of his several medal successes for GBCT as he quickly stepped up to elite level.
With his Scottish heritage, Fielding’s selection for the Team Scotland squad at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was a milestone moment. He managed to qualify for the last 16 in the men’s individual sprint, before being pipped to the line in the knockout race by fellow Scot Jack Carlin by just 0.035 seconds.
Fielding built upon the promise shown at the Commonwealth Games to help bring home a duo of bronze medals at major championships later that year, his first year at elite level. At the European championships, Fielding won bronze in the team sprint alongside Carlin and Turnbull.
The prosperous trio continued their medal-winning form that year at the UCI World Track Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, impressively defeating the German team in the bronze medal race.
The following year, Fielding and Turnbull, joined by Joe Truman on this occasion, bettered the bronze won in 2022 by winning silver at the European championships in Switzerland. The podium finish cemented Fielding’s status as a world-class team sprinter, a legacy that will remain in retirement.
Fielding had this to say on his retirement:
“I’m grateful for everything cycling and the Great Britain Cycling Team has given me through my time in the ODS, podium potential and now podium squad. I’ve made memories, friends and family I’ll cherish forever.
“I’m so thankful for my first few coaches who always believed in me and particularly Dave Daniell this last year who has not only been a great coach but also friend and mentor. I’ll never forget the race day nerves and excitement, but I’m looking forward to the future and what it holds.”
Paying tribute to Fielding’s career, Scottish Cycling’s Head of Performance David Somerville said:
“On behalf of Scottish Cycling I’d like to congratulate Ali on his cycling career as moves on to the next chapter in his life. Ali was a key part of our sprint squad at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and was a great team player, which I know was also the case during his five years on the Great Britain Cycling Team. Not many riders get to hang up their wheels as a World Championship medallist, which I know Ali will take great pride in.
