Beyond her wildest dreams - Forres cyclist Lauren Bell reflects on her Olympic ambitions, her greatest sporting achievement to win an emotional bronze medal at the world track cycling championships and representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games

From British champion to Commonwealth games star, cyclist Lauren Bell is still on a high after winning a world championship bronze.

The 23-year-old former Forres Academy pupil reflected on a memorable 2022 which saw her emerge as one of British cycling's emerging talents.

Bell achieved her dream of representing Scotland at this summer's Commonwealth Games on the London velodrome, narrowly missing out on a medal.

She then won bronze in the World Track Cycling Championships in Paris in the women's team sprint, a moment she described as the greatest in her blossoming career.

Her ultimate goal would be to make the Olympics in Paris in 2024, and she knows the hard work is only just beginning in her mission to compete at her highest level yet.

"Overall this year has been pretty special and if I reflect back to how I anticipated it going at the start of my season I wouldn't have even come close to imagining this!" she said.

"The Commies was a great experience and since I was young I'd always dreamed about competing for Scotland, so without sounding cheesy it was like a dream come true.

"Winning a bronze medal at the World Championships has been the best moment in my career so far and one which I'm sure I won't forget.

"My number one goal is to make it to the Olympics in 2024.

"But we have a strong squad of girls all pushing for the same spot so right now I'm just getting my head down and training as hard as I can so that when selection comes I've done all that I could've to put myself in the best possible position to get into the team."

Now based in Manchester, where she trains full-time in her sport, Bell hasn't forgotten her roots and the most recent of her regular trips back home to Forres came to see the recent fireworks display in the town.

She will return to Moray over the Christmas period and plans to combine family time with training sessions on her home roads, part of her plan to be a Team GB member in Paris the year after next.

Bell first emerged as an international talent when she was a double British champion in 2020.

She was studying in Edinburgh at the time but made the switch to Manchester to devote all of her time to cycling, a move that is clearly paying off with interest.

As special as her Commonwealth Games performance was, the world bronze in Paris was the icing on the cake.

"I achieved a good personal best in our first round which I had been chasing for a while, but during the event you have to stay focused as we still had a potential of two other rides if we kept our heads on so I don't think I really took that in.

"We made it to the bronze ride off against The Netherlands who are a very good team and I think we were only 0.1s off their time so we knew we stood a good chance of a medal if we kept to our processes and rode well.

"After the ride I looked up at the score board and for some reason thought that we'd lost the bronze which felt heartbreaking - fourth place always seems to be the worst position.

"I then looked up again and realised the third place was beside our name and I just couldn't believe it. I don't think it was until I came off the track and started hugging my team-mates Emma (Finucane) and Sophie (Capewell), and my coach Kaarle (McCulloch), that it hit me that we'd won a medal.

"I got quite emotional as it just seemed so surreal and I felt over the moon that I'd finally beaten my individual targets, we'd smashed our team target and that resulted in a bronze medal.

"Stepping on the podium I just felt really proud in myself and the whole team around me and it made me feel quite hungry for the next Worlds, which are in Glasgow, and to make sure that we preform even better in front of a home crowd."

Her first instinct after becoming a world championship medallist was to call her parents, who did so much for her when she first got on the saddle of her bike as a youngster.

"My mum and dad were so proud. I called them after I'd made it back to my hotel and they were so excited for me and I think they also felt relieved that all the hard work I've put in paid off as they always get the calls to hear me complaining about being tired and sore!

"All of my friends and my boyfriend Max were so happy for me and it makes the moment feel even better than I'm able to share it with them."

Bell believes her performance in the Commonwealth Games and the experience of competing for Scotland spurred her on towards her world championships glory.

Birmingham hosted this year's Games but the cycling events were held in London, and Bell competed in the keirin, sprint, 500m time trial and women’s team sprint.

She helped Scotland get the Games under way at Lea Valley VeloPark with Iona Moir and Lusia Steele, posting the sixth fastest time in the team sprint to just miss out on a medal.

Fifth place followed in the 500m time trial final where Bell was the quickest Scot in a pulsating final, finishing 0.72 seconds behind gold medal winner Kristina Clonan, from Australia.

Bell was third in her keirin heat and stormed through the next stage to reach the final where she finished 10th.

In the sprint, she lost to Canada’s Sarah Orban in the quarter finals.

"The atmosphere in the Team Scotland camp prior to entering the village was buzzing and I think reflecting back, what makes commies so special is the team bond and laughs we all had rather than just the actual cycling event.

"There's no doubt that there's something special about representing Scotland and pulling on my Scottish jersey just made me feel so immensely proud that all the sacrifices and hard work I'd put in had been more than worth it.

"It was amazing to see Lewis Stewart and Neil Fachie win a title and hearing Flower of Scotland across the speakers was pretty special and something I hope to experience in my career.

"I came away with personal bests in all of my timed events and a 5th place in the 500TT.

"I think the main thing I took away from the experience was huge confidence in my own ability which definitely helped me later on in my season when I went to the World Championships also in the build up to the Worlds where we were still unsure about what the GB team was going to look like."

It was the relatively flat and quiet rural roads of Moray that provided the platform for the Forres youngster to put her heart and soul into a mission to become an international cycling star.

Bell may be a long way from home now but she heads up the road whenever possible - the Moray coast has always been dear to her heart.

"I try and get back home to Forres as often as I can because its always nice to get back and go see family, the beaches and get away from the English water!

"Unfortunately its such as long journey from Manchester to Forres and I don't often get long periods of time where I can be away from the track. But I was home recently and it was nice to just relax with my family and go see the fireworks in the park.

"I'll also be home around the festive period and will be back training at home and riding all of the great routes that we're lucky to have on our doorsteps."

Could those same Moray routes also be playing a part in creating a future Olympic hero?

Sporting fans in the area will be rooting for their cycling champion as Bell embarks on a voyage to earn her place in the British team for Paris.

"Next year will be a big year for us as Olympic qualification begins with our first international race being the European Championships in February," she said.

"We will also have a home World Championships in August 2023 which is the last one before the Olympic Games and is a good opportunity to see where we sit in the field."