Victoria Pendleton

Pendleton rode her first race, a 400m event on the grass track at Mildenhall Cycling Club's[9] Fordham Sports Day and Grass-Track meeting 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.[10]

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.[11] 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 200 m sprint.

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.[12]

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she won silver in the 500 m 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.[13] 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.[14] Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association's sportswoman of the year for 2007.[15]

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,[16] and the team sprint, again with Reade.[17] She was also second in the keirin.[18] At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pendleton won the gold medal in the sprint.[19]

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.[20]

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.[21] Partnering Jess Varnish, Pendleton won the team sprint in her only event at the British Championships.[22] At the 2011 European Track Championships Pendleton won the team sprint[23] and keirin titles, but only came eighth in the sprint.[24]

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.[25] In the sprint and the keirin Pendleton came 4th and 5th respectively.[26][27] 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 Krupeckaitė, winning 2–0 with the second win coming from another relegation.[28] Pendleton finished without medals in her other two events.[29][30]

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.[31] She recovered to win a gold medal in the keirin.[32] Pendleton set a new Olympic record of 10.724 seconds in the qualifiers of the sprint[33] but lost in the final to Anna Meares, after being controversially relegated[34] 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.[35]

In March 2015, Pendleton announced her intention to become a jockey with the aim of competing at the Foxhunter Chase at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival, with guidance from horse trainer Paul Nicholls.[36] She made her competitive debut in August 2015, finishing second in the Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Riders' Handicap at Ripon riding Royal Etiquette.[37] She won her first race on 2 March 2016, guiding 5–4 favourite Pacha Du Polder to victory at Wincanton.[38]

On 18 March 2016, Pendleton, again riding Pacha Du Polder, achieved her ambition of participating in the 2016 Foxhunter Chase, at Cheltenham, outperforming many pundits' expectations by finishing fifth. She described the result as "probably the greatest achievement of my life".[39]