Katie Archibald on a Gold Coast medal mission

Katie Archibald is determined to live up to her star billing at the Commonwealth Games by bringing home medals for Scotland.

The 24-year-old has Olympic, world and European titles to her name, but is now keen to make her mark on another stage.

She won Commonwealth bronze in the points race in Glasgow four years ago, but knows more is expected in Brisbane this week.

“Four years ago I was a very different rider,” Archibald said. “(Bronze) was an incredible achievement. Now I’d be disappointed to leave without a medal.

“You always say those kinds of things and they come back and bite you in the arse. I get paranoid my preparation isn’t going perfectly, but it will come together.”

Archibald can often sound like a bag of nerves ahead of a major event, a status belying her demonstrated ability to consistently deliver.

Though Scotland will not compete in the team pursuit – in which Archibald is a reigning Olympic champion – she will contest the individual pursuit, points race and the scratch race at the Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane.

Archibald has won European gold in the individual pursuit four times, but has admitted to making mistakes in world championships.

The nature of the event makes it easier for Archibald to know what she has done wrong, and what she has done right – something she likes.

“It’s nice when performance is black and white in such a way you can say, ‘Well, if I brush my teeth to the left rather than the right, next time it will be fine’,” she said. “There’s a lot of voodoo surrounding it.”

With Great Britain split into four at the Commonwealth Games, Archibald will be up against a number of her regular team-mates, including the likes of fellow Olympic team pursuit champion Elinor Barker of Wales and England’s Emily Nelson, with whom Archibald won the Madison at the world championships last month.

“It’s a completely different feel (to competing for Great Britain),” Archibald said of racing for Scotland. “The stress comes off.

“Riders like my brother, John Archibald, and Kyle Gordon have taken a huge block of time off work to be here. It’s a different dynamic with them. It means you can sit at the dinner table more like friends on a trip rather than colleagues doing business.

“That stood out in Glasgow, because I was so new to the GB set-up. I was so intimidated by it all that competing for Scotland felt like coming home.”