1994–2012 Elinor Jane Barker was born on 7 September 1994 in
Cardiff. Elinor took up cycling with the Maindy Flyers aged ten to avoid swimming classes and later attended
Llanishen High School. In 2011, Barker became the
British national junior pursuit champion, finished runner-up in the
British national junior scratch race, and claimed silver in the
time-trial at the
UCI Junior Road World Championships in
Copenhagen. At the
2012 UEC U23/Junior European Track Championship, she won gold medals in both the junior
individual pursuit and the
team pursuit. At the
UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships, she then won silver medals in the individual pursuit and
omnium and a bronze in the team pursuit. Competing in
road cycling, she became the junior time trial world champion in 2012, completing the course in
Valkenburg, Netherlands in 22:26.29, beating
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig of Denmark by 35.87 seconds. That year, she joined the Olympic Development Programme. The following month, Barker made her debut for Great Britain at the
Track Cycling World Cup in
Glasgow as a replacement for an ill
Joanna Rowsell. Barker,
Laura Kenny and
Dani King triumphed over Australia in the final. Barker was named Carwyn James Junior Sportswoman of the Year at the 2012
BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year awards.
2013–2016 In February 2013, while studying for her
A-levels, Barker finished with two silver medals in the under-23 category in both the individual pursuit and the
points race at the 2013 Junior/U23 European Track Championships in Portugal. Kenny beat her to gold in both disciplines. She moved to Manchester in September to enable her to train full-time with the British squad. In November, Great Britain twice broke the world record for the team pursuit at the
Track Cycling World Cup in Manchester. Competing as a quartet following a recent-rule change, Barker, Kenny, King and Rowsell won the event by beating Canada in the final with a time of 4:19.604. After replacing Kenny with
Katie Archibald, the team broke their own record twice more at the next leg of the Track Cycling World Cup series in
Aguascalientes, Mexico, where they triumphed over Canada in the final. The team consisting of Barker, Rowsell, King and Katie Archibald beat their own record set in Manchester by 3.052 seconds. At the
2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Cali, Barker, Kenny, Rowsell and Archibald led Great Britain to victory in
the team pursuit after defeating Canada in the gold-medal race. Barker represented
Wales at the
2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she secured silver in
the points race and bronze in
the scratch race. She won gold in
the team pursuit at the
2014 UEC European Track Championships in
Guadeloupe after Great Britain beat Russia by nearly seven seconds in the gold-medal race. Later that year, Barker finished fourth at the
British National Time Trial Championships, trailing first position by just over a minute. Barker finished her year by claiming back-to-back gold medals in the team pursuit at the
Track Cycling World Cup, triumphing in the events held in
Guadalajara, and
London. At the
2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, in
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, Barker, Kenny, Rowsell and Archibald won silver after suffering a defeat to Australia in the final of
the team pursuit. Australia also broke Great Britain's world record time in the event. Barker was part of the British team that finished first in
the team pursuit at the
2015 UEC European Track Championships in
Grenchen, Switzerland. Great Britain beat Russia in the final. (Barker is second from the left)|alt=Barker, Rowsell, Archibald and Kenny stand in front of the Union Jack while displaying their gold medals from the team pursuit at the 2016 Summer Olympics At the
2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London, Barker was part of
the team pursuit line-up along with
Ciara Horne, Rowsell and Kenny. After finishing fifth in qualification, they fought back and eventually beat New Zealand to claim bronze. At the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, Barker along with Archibald, Rowsell and Kenny secured the gold medal in
the team pursuit in a new world record time of 4:10.236 seconds, defeating the United States in the final. The quartet had broken the world record in qualifying, only to see the American team then better the record in their qualifying ride. The British team then broke it again in the final. After the Olympics, Barker said she would likely focus on individual events in 2017, such as the points race and the scratch race, rather than the team pursuit. Returning to the track after the Olympics, Barker won a silver medal in
the scratch race at the
European Championships in
Paris. She followed this by winning the points race at the
Track Cycling World Cup in Apeldoorn. Barker then claimed the title at the
Six Days of Amsterdam, which included a win in the
elimination race on the final day. She closed 2016 with first place in the
British National Madison Championships alongside Kenny.
2017–2020 with
Ellie Dickinson|alt=Barker and Ellie Dickinson show their gold medals after victory in the madison at the 2017 European Track Championships Barker was appointed Member of the
Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the
2017 New Year Honours for services to cycling. She then finished third in the scratch race at the Track Cycling World Cup event in
Los Angeles and fifth in the madison with
Ellie Dickinson. In the Six Days series in
Mallorca, Barker won the title after three top-four finishes during the competition. She claimed silver medals at the
2017 World Championships in
Hong Kong in both
the scratch race and
the madison, the latter alongside
Emily Nelson, and won her first individual world title in
the points race. She finished the points race with fifty-nine points, eight ahead of second-placed American rider
Sarah Hammer. At the
2017 UEC European Track Championships in
Berlin, Barker won silver in the final of
the team pursuit and gold in
the madison with teammate Dickinson. In November, Barker won a silver medal in the madison with Emily Nelson at the first round of the
Track Cycling World Cup in
Pruszków, Poland. She then claimed gold in both the team pursuit, and the madison (partnering Archibald) at the next leg of the World Cup in Manchester. For the 2018 road cycling season, Barker joined . On the track, she won a silver medal in
the team pursuit at the
2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn. Great Britain were defeated by the United States team in the final. At the
2018 Commonwealth Games on the
Gold Coast, Australia, Barker secured gold in
the points race for Wales, ahead of Archibald and
Neah Evans. Her win was the first Commonwealth Games title for a Welsh track cyclist since 1990. Later that year, she won gold medals in team pursuits at the
European Track Championships in Glasgow, and at the
Track Cycling World Cup event in
Milton, Canada; she and Archibald won further golds at the latter's madison. Around this time, she almost quit professional cycling, and acknowledged the help that her psychologist had given her to help her refind her love for the sport. She was also diagnosed with
endometriosis, for which she elected for surgery. At the
2019 Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków, Barker won the
rainbow jersey in
the scratch race, her first world title in that discipline. She also won a silver in
the team pursuit after Great Britain were defeated by Australia in the final. Barker broke her collarbone in August during the
RideLondon Classique and did not race competitively again until December's
Track Cycling World Cup event in Glasgow, when she won both the gold in the team pursuit and a silver medal in the madison alongside Archibald. at the
2020 World Championships|alt=Barker stands on the podium after receiving her gold medal for victory in the points race at the 2020 World Championships At the
2020 Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin, Germany, Barker won gold in
the points race on the final day of the championships, taking Great Britain's only title of the meeting. It was her second triumph in the event after first winning the title in 2017. She was also part of the team that took silver in
the team pursuit. Later that year, Barker won two titles at the
European Track Championships, one as part of
the team pursuit squad in which she competed during the qualifying round but sat out the final, and an individual gold in
the elimination race. She concluded the competition with a bronze medal in
the madison, partnering Kenny.
2021–2026 In 2021, Barker was part of the British squad that won silver in
the team pursuit at the delayed
2020 Summer Olympics in
Tokyo. by cyclist
Casper von Folsach, whom she married in October 2024. She competed in the qualifying round but was then replaced by Evans in the line-up. Germany beat Great Britain's world record in the final which Barker did not take part in. During the Games she signed a two-year deal to join the
Uno-X team from 2022. She was inspired to continue competing after becoming a mother by other professional cyclists that had done so including
Lizzie Deignan, Kenny, and
Sarah Storey. Barker took maternity leave after giving birth in March 2022. She was selected by Wales for that year's
Commonwealth Games in
the road-race. The following year, Barker finished 15th at the
Vuelta CV Feminas, before winning two gold medals at the
2023 UEC European Track Championships in Grenchen, her first major track cycling competition since becoming a mother. She triumphed as a member of the quartet that won
the team pursuit and also in
the madison partnering Archibald. Barker finished seventh in the
Gent–Wevelgem, her best ever finish in a UCI road race. In August, at the
2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Barker won a gold medal in
the team pursuit alongside Archibald,
Josie Knight and
Anna Morris. It was the first time that Great Britain had won the event since 2014. She then won a second gold medal while partnering Evans in
the madison. At the
2024 UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup in
Adelaide, Australia, Barker won a silver medal in the team pursuit, and then secured a gold medal in the madison with Archibald. Back on the road, she finished third in the elite time-trial at the British National Championships. At the
2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Barker won bronze in
the team pursuit alongside Knight, Morris and
Jess Roberts. She then became the first Welsh woman to win four Olympic medals by securing a silver in
the madison with Evans. In June 2025, after finishing 16th at the British National Road Championships in
Ceredigion, Barker ended her racing season early after announcing that she was expecting her second child. The following month, Barker was awarded an
honorary degree by
Swansea University for her "outstanding achievements and contribution to international cycling." On 2 January 2026, Barker posted on
Instagram that she had recently given birth. ==Major results==