Is retiring Archibald Scotland's greatest female athlete?

Breaking news from the world of sport: Is Archibald Scotland's greatest female athlete? Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Katie Archibald is looking forward to stepping away from the public eyeByClive Lindsay, Amy MacBeath & Tyrone SmithBBC Sport ScotlandPublished13 May 2026Katie Archibald admits she has even surprised herself by choosing to retire when she is still a current world and European champion. And at a time when she had already been selected for a Commonwealth Games in her home city, on the velodrome where she learned to race a bike.

But as the 32-year-old leaves the sport to pursue a career in nursing while at the top of her game and as one of Britain's most decorated track cyclists, where does it place her in the list of great Scottish female athletes? Archibald retires from cycling after falling 'in love' with nursing Published2 days agoArchibald's achievementsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Katie Archibald picked out a victory with Neah Evans as one of her career highlightsOver her 13-year career, Archibald has amassed an incredible 51 medals at world, European, Commonwealth and Olympic level, individually and as part of a team. That haul includes two Olympic titles and a silver medal, Commonwealth gold, seven world titles and a world-leading 21 European titles.

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Yet she left it late in her teens to follow older brother John - himself a British champion - into professional cycling having initially taken it up for the social aspect. Having been invited on to the British women's track endurance squad in 2013, Archibald won the European team pursuit title in her senior competitive debut alongside Laura Kenny, Dani Rowe and Elinor Barker and she has never looked back. However, despite all the major titles, when asked about her own career highlights, Archibald picked out her first major solo medal - a bronze in the Commonwealth Games points race in Glasgow 2014.

Her other personal highlight came 10 years later, in 2024, winning the madison with Neah Evans at the UCI Nations Cup. An incredible return, but how does she compare to other Scottish female athletes? Still playing football at the age of 35, former Scotland midfielder Kim Little has won the Women's Champions League with Arsenal as well as league titles in England, Scotland and Australia - plus a string of cup finals.

Rower Katherine Grainger has one Olympic gold and six world titles, as well as a string of lesser medals, mainly in quadruple and double sculls. Eve Muirhead, meanwhile, won Olympic and world golds at curling. But what about individual sports?

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Hannah Rankin was Scotland's first-ever world boxing champion when she won the IBO super-welterweight title. Hannah Miley won a world championship in swimming. Liz McColgan claims world gold and Olympic silver in the 10,000m.

And Shirley Robertson won consecutive Olympic golds in sailing.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.