Victoria Pendleton

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Victoria Pendleton
File:Victoria Pendleton 2011.jpg
Pendleton in 2011
Personal information
Full name Victoria Louise Pendleton
Nickname Queen Victoria[1][2]
Born (1980-09-24) 24 September 1980 (age 44)[3][4]
Stotfold, Bedfordshire, England
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[3]
Weight 62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)[3]
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Track
Role Rider
Rider type Sprinter
Amateur team(s)
1989–2004 Mildenhall Cycling Club
2005 VC St Raphael
Professional team(s)
2006–2007 Science in Sport / Trek
2008–2012 Sky Track Cycling

Victoria Louise Gardner, CBE (née Pendleton; born 24 September 1980) is an English former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines.

Pendleton represented Great Britain and England in international competition, winning nine world titles including a record six in the individual sprint competition, dominating the event between 2005 and 2012. Pendleton is a former Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion. In 2012 she won the gold medal in the keirin at the 2012 Summer Olympics, as well as silver in the sprint.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours[5] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling.[6][7] As a gold medalist at European, World and Olympic level, Pendleton is also a member of the European Cycling Union Hall of Fame.

With two gold and one silver medals, Pendleton is one of Great Britain's most successful female Olympians.

Early life

Victoria Louise Pendleton, and her twin brother Alex James Pendleton, were born on 24 September 1980 at Stotfold, Bedfordshire, England, to Max Pendleton, a keen cyclist and former British national grass track cycling champion, and Pauline M Viney. She also has an older sister, Nicola Jane.[8]

Career

Early years

Pendleton rode her first race, a 400m event on the grass track at Fordham at nine. Pendleton showed her promise at 13 and was spotted three years later by the assistant national track coach, Marshal Thomas. At that time she wanted to concentrate on her education at Fearnhill School in Letchworth Garden City, and later a degree in Sport and Exercise Science by Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne. She enjoyed some success on the track as a student before graduating and becoming a full-time cyclist.[9]

Journey to the top

Pendleton won one bronze and three silver medals in the British National Track Championships in 2001, while still a student. Between 2002 and 2004 she was a trainee at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.[10] She qualified for the 2002 Commonwealth Games team, finishing fourth in the sprint. She again came fourth in the sprint at the 2003 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Stuttgart and the 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne. She ranked 2nd overall in the World Cup for the sprint in 2004, winning the World Cup event in Manchester.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she finished sixth in the time trial and ninth in the 200m sprint.

Successful years

Pendleton won her first major medal with gold in the sprint at the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. She became the third British woman to become a cycling world champion in 40 years.[11]

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she won silver in the 500m time trial and gold in the sprint.

At the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won the team sprint with Shanaze Reade, the individual gold in the sprint, and a third gold in the keirin.[12] She crowned the year by being named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2007, becoming the first cyclist to win the award in its 20-year history.[13] Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association's sportswoman of the year for 2007.[14]

File:Victoria Pendleton.jpg
Pendleton celebrates winning the sprint at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships

During her build-up to the Olympics she won two gold medals at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the sprint,[15] and the team sprint, again with Reade.[16] She was also second in the keirin.[17] At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pendleton won the gold medal in the sprint.[18]

She retained her title in the sprint at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków. Each sprint was so closely matched it required several photos, leaving Pendleton emotional but victorious over her Dutch opponent, Willy Kanis.[19]

At the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships Pendleton won a silver in the team sprint, a bronze medal in the sprint and finished seventh in the keirin.[20] Partnering Jess Varnish, Pendleton won the team sprint in her only event at the British Championships.[21] At the 2011 European Track Championships Pendleton won the team sprint[22] and keirin titles, but only came eighth in the sprint.[23]

In February 2012 Pendleton and Varnish set a new world team sprint record of 32.754 seconds, beating Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares of Australia at the Track World Cup in the London Velodrome.[24] In the sprint and the keirin Pendleton came 4th and 5th respectively.[25][26] In Pendleton's final 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships she won the sprint, her sixth title. She fell in the first heat of the semi-final against Meares. In the second heat Meares was relegated for going outside her lane. In the decider Pendleton won in a photo finish before defeating Simona Krupeckaite, winning 2–0 with the second win coming from another relegation.[27] Pendleton finished without medals in her other two events.[28][29]

Pendleton celebrates winning the keirin at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pendleton and Varnish broke the world record in the qualifying stages of the team sprint before being relegated in the semi-finals.[30] She recovered to win a gold medal in the keirin.[31] Pendleton set a new Olympic record of 10.724 seconds in the qualifiers of the sprint[32] but lost in the final to Anna Meares, after being controversially relegated[33] in the first run and being beaten in the second run, earning a silver medal. This would be Pendleton's final competitive race as she retired from professional cycling.[34]

Outside cycling

Pendleton featured on the cover of the July 2009 issue of men's magazine FHM.[35] She featured in the January 2012 issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine.[36] In February 2012, Halfords released a Pendleton branded range of women's bikes including the Somerton (a city bike), the Initial (a road bicycle) the Brooke and the Dalby (both hybrid bikes) on which Pendleton herself had worked as a design consultant.[37] She was a "brand ambassador" for Pantene hair-care products in the advent to London 2012.[38] She was the subject of a BBC television programme which first aired in July.[39] She featured on the cover of the August 2012 issue of Esquire magazine.[40]

Pendleton was a contestant on series 10 of Strictly Come Dancing,[41] in which her professional partner was Brendan Cole.[42] She was the seventh of the fourteen celebrities to leave the show on 25 November.[43]

Pendleton's autobiography Between the Lines was released following her retirement in September 2012.[44][45]

On 4 July 2014, Pendleton made a guest appearance in the ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, for the start of the Tour de France in Yorkshire. Pendleton caused fireworks in Jimmy (Nick Miles) and Nicola King's (Nicola Wheeler) marriage.

At the 2014 Conservative Party Conference, Pendleton introduced the Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan before her keynote speech on 30 September, speaking about the importance of sport in education. She said, "if you want more children to leave school healthy and prepared for life in modern Britain, with everything that will be thrown at them, you might as well give them a sporting chance."[46]

In March 2015 Pendleton announced her intention to become a jockey with the intention of competing at the Foxhunter Chase at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival, with guidance from horse trainer Paul Nicholls.[47] She made her competitive debut in August 2015, finishing second in the Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Riders' Handicap at Ripon Racecourse riding Royal Etiquette.[48]

Personal life

Pendleton's relationship with Scott Gardner, a sports scientist with the British Cycling coaching team, caused some problems for the couple, as it was felt to be unprofessional for two members of the team to be romantically involved.[49] Following the 2008 Olympics, when it became more widely known, Gardner was obliged to leave the team, though he was later re-hired. Pendleton and Gardner married in September 2013.[50]

For her 30th birthday, Pendleton had a line from The Smashing Pumpkins' song "Today" tattooed onto her right arm.[51] As of 2012, she lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire.[52]

Palmarès

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2002
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
2003
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Keirin
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Scratch race
2004
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
2005
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Sprint, World Track Championships
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Keirin
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Scratch Race
2006
Commonwealth Games
1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint
2nd Silver medal blank.svg Time trial
2nd Silver medal blank.svg Sprint, World Track Championships
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Keirin
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Scratch race
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG National Derny Championship
2007
World Track Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Sprint
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Team Sprint (with Shanaze Reade)
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Keirin
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Keirin
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG National Derny Championship
2008
1st Gold medal.svg Sprint, Olympic Games
World Track Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Sprint
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Team Sprint (with Shanaze Reade)
2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Team Sprint (with Anna Blyth)
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Keirin
2009
World Track Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Sprint
2nd Silver medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Shanaze Reade)
3rd Bronze medal blank.svg 500 m time trial
National Track Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG 500 m time trial
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Sprint
2010
World Track Championships
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Sprint
2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin
2011
1st Gold medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Jessica Varnish), European Track Championships
World Track Championships
2nd Silver medal blank.svg Team sprint (with Jessica Varnish)
3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint
2012
Olympic Games
1st Gold medal.svg Keirin
2nd Silver medal.svg Sprint
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Sprint, World Track Championships

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58929. p. 21. 31 December 2008.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 24. 29 December 2012.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Jessica Varnish: I will never watch nightmare moment when my London Olympic dream was shattered. www.telegraph.co.uk. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  31. ↑ Victoria Pendleton wins gold in the women's keirin at London 2012 Olympics. www.telegraph.co.uk. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  32. ↑ Women's Sprint : Records. London 2012 official website.
  33. ↑ Meares outsprints arch-rival Pendleton[dead link]. Reuters. 7 August 2012.
  34. ↑ Eddie Allen (7 August 2012).Relief for Pendleton after sprint swansong: “I can't believe it's all over”. www.britishcycling.org.uk.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Victoria Pendleton makes surprise Tory appearance, 30 September 2014
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

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