Not only in this country but around the globe, sporting organisations were wondering how they could replicate everything about British Cycling, such was the success it was achieving.

The plaudits were, on the face of it, well-deserved. The success of British riders at the very highest level, particularly in the velodrome, was astonishing.

The rise began in the late 1990s, with the advent of National Lottery funding. With British cyclists having won only two bronze medals at the 1996 Olympic Games (both on the road), there was a marked improvement four years later, with British riders winning four medals (including a gold) at Sydney 2000. Scottish riders Craig MacLean and an, as yet, unheralded Chris Hoy helped contribute to that tally, with the duo part of GB’s silver medal-winning team sprint squad.

At the 2004 Olympics, results improved again, with four medals won, two of which were gold, before the success really exploded at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. 13 medals, including 8 gold, three of which were won by Hoy. British riders, most notably Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott (now Laura Kenny) and Jason Kenny, became household names after dominating at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and British Cycling had reached a point whereby its methods were being treated as the blueprint for success across many sports.

Sir Chris Hoy won three gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games (Image: Quinn Rooney/ Getty Images)

A few cracks began to appear in 2017, though. A report into claims of bullying within the GB cycling team found that British Cycling “lacked good governance at board level”, and a “culture of fear existed within the team”.

But British Cycling managed overcome the criticisms and maintained the success on the track to which the sport had become so accustomed. 12 medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 11 at the Paris 2024 Olympics, plus a raft of medals at almost every European and World Championships in recent years, as well as huge success from British Cycling’s para-riders, suggested things were back on an even keel.

Just last weekend, Britain’s had its most successful World Championships since 2012, winning a dozen medals, including golds from Scottish riders Erin Boothman (who won two titles) and Mark Stewart. Everything at British Cycling was, it seemed, rosy once more.

Mark Stewart (centre) won golf at the 2026 World Track Cycling Championships earlier this month (Image: JADE GAO/ Getty Images)

Except the celebrations were clouded by a report in The Times revealing that there was falling morale within British Cycling and there was, at least in part, a "toxic culture" within the organisation. Déjà vu.

The recent revelations revealed that when riders and staff were asked to think of three words to describe the culture of their World Class Programme, "driven" was the most-commonly used word by athletes. This description of an elite-level programme cannot be seen as anything less than hugely positive. However, the second most-commonly used word was "toxic". Other words used included "cold", "unconcerned", "distant", "unclear" and "restrictive". These descriptions, by anyone's standards, are devastating. British Cycling responded by saying an "action plan" has been implemented to address these concerns.

For all of the success on the track from the British cycling team this month, there remains something of a bad taste in the mouth about the sport as a whole, or certainly the elite side of it. I cannot be the only one who is entirely unsurprised by these revelations about a poor culture within British Cycling, though. Shocking? Yes, perhaps. But surprising? Absolutely not.

It should be noted that the very happiest sporting environments are not, necessarily, the most successful. There is, in elite sporting programmes, unquestionably the need to exert a level of pressure and a requirement to push coaches and athletes beyond what many would deem "normal". But there's also a balance that needs to be struck, and when the culture tips into toxic, a line has been crossed.

Elite sporting environments can very, very easily become unhealthy and cycling is certainly not the only sport (or business) to fall victim to an unhealthy culture.

There's several factors that contribute to this toxicity.

Firstly, there’s extreme pressure to achieve success. Any sport that receives public funding - British Cycling has received around £30 million in recent Olympic cycles making it one of the best-funded Olympic sports in this country - is unequivocally expected to deliver medals.

There has, in recent years particularly, been considerable talk about prioritising athlete welfare over medal success and, to some extent, I am confident the ‘win at all costs’ mentality has shifted somewhat. But let’s be realistic, this funding is not dished out with the condition of being ‘nice’ to athletes. It’s being handed out with either the explicit or implicit expectation that the sport which is receiving it will produce medal-winning athletes. And to become a medal-winning athlete, individuals must be pushed hard.

Which leads onto the second point. Elite sport environments are tough. That’s because elite sport is tough. There’s a fine line between pushing athletes hard (often harder than, in the moment, they want to be pushed) and bullying them. Very, very often, coaches cross the line but there is a level of brutality within elite sport coaching that isn’t just helpful, it’s necessary.

When the line is crossed too often, though, that’s when the environment becomes toxic.

And the third reason is, often when organisations achieve success, individuals within it can start to feel untouchable. Some within a successful system can develop an aura of invincibility which can, in the worst cases, lead them to believe they can behave however they want. We’ve all read stories of bullying within sport but often, success from athletes detracts from poor behaviour. And while there’s little evidence that, recently at least, there’s been any abuse from coaches towards athletes within British Cycling, there certainly seems to be a very unhealthy culture fermenting within the organisation.

Recognising it and acknowledging it is one thing. It’s another thing entirely to actually change a toxic culture.

British Cycling will, in all likelihood, manage to once again ride this wave of negative stories. The results the athletes are achieving in the velodrome makes it far easier to push through negativity than if results are not being produced.

But, in almost every case, a negative culture, sooner or later, catches up with an organisation. There’s only so long riders and staff can continue to operate at the level they are while, at the same time, working in the environment in which they are extremely unhappy.

British Cycling should heed the warning that comes with this recent report and not just try to change the culture, but ensure they change it. Yes elite sport is a tough environment, but toxicity cannot be tolerated.

And there’s every chance that not only will a healthier culture produce happier riders and staff, it’ll result in more medals too. Which is, in the end, what everyone wants.