Jessica Varnish (born 19 November 1990) is a former British track
cyclist
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
. Varnish was part of the 2014 world record holding European Championships team sprint champions and is a multiple medalist at the World Championships.
Biography
Jessica Varnish was born in
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
on 19 November 1990, the daughter of James "Jim" Varnish, a keen cyclist. She attended
South Bromsgrove High School.
At the age of 14, Varnish competed unofficially at the 2006 Junior World Championships in Belgium. She took a second off the British 500m standing start record, setting a new time of 37.1 seconds.
She made her GB Cycling debut at the Austrian Junior International in January 2006. She became a member of
British Cycling
British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Brit ...
's Olympic Development Programme whilst still a junior. Being just 17 at the time, Varnish was selected for the programme a year ahead of the rest of her age group, demonstrating British Cycling's belief in her potential.
Her first performance at senior level was in the
2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, United Kingdom from 26 to 30 March 2008. Eighteen events were scheduled; the women's team pur ...
in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.
In March 2009, Varnish was awarded the "junior female sports personality of the year" trophy at the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards.
Virgin Trains West Coast
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...
named its
''Pendolino'' train 390027 after her on 29 June 2011.
On 18 February, Varnish competed at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the new Olympic Velodrome. Along with her team-mate
Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With tw ...
, they broke the world record of the women's team sprint taking gold.
At the
2012 Summer Olympics, Varnish and Pendleton broke the world record in the qualifying stages of the
team sprint
The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome.
The current men's ...
before being relegated in the semi-finals.
In April 2016 ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' reported that Varnish's Olympic Podium Programme contract with British Cycling had not been renewed, with Performance Director
Shane Sutton stating that the decision was due to Varnish's performances over the previous three years, and denying that it was related to comments she had made in interviews at the
2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2016. They took place in London in the Lee Valley VeloPark from 2–6 March 2016.
As the last major track cycling event prior to the 2016 Summer Ol ...
which were critical of the selections that had been made for the women's team sprint squad in their qualifying campaign for the
2016 Summer Olympics, which was ultimately unsuccessful. Varnish claimed in the two-year Olympic qualifying period she had gained more qualifying points than any other British cyclist, in the team sprint she had consistently performed in the world top 5 and also qualified for the Olympic places in individual sprint and Keirin. In a subsequent interview with the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'', Varnish made allegations that Sutton had made sexist comments when discussing the non-renewal of her contract. In April 2016 Sutton was suspended by British Cycling, and he immediately resigned rather than mounting a defence.
Palmarès
Track
;2005
:1st

sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– U16
:2nd 500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– U16
:2nd Scratch race,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– U16
;2006
:1st

sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– U16
:2nd 500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– U16
:2nd Scratch race,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– U16
;2007
:1st

keirin,
2007 European Track Championships – Junior
:1st

sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Junior
:2nd 500m TT,
2007 European Track Championships – Junior
:2nd Individual Sprint, UCI Junior Track World Championships
:2nd 500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Junior
:3rd 500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Senior
:3rd Individual Sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Senior
;2008
:1st

keirin,
2008 European Track Championships – Junior
:1st

500m TT,
2008 European Track Championships – Junior
:1st

500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Junior
:1st

sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Junior
:1st Team Sprint, round 1,
2008–2009 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Manchester (with
Anna Blyth)
:2nd
British National Team Sprint Championships
The British National Team Sprint Championships are held annually as part of the British National Track Championships organized by British Cycling. A women's championship was held for the first time in 2008.
Results Men
Women
See also
* Bri ...
(with
Helen Scott)
:3rd Keirin,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
– Senior
:3rd Individual Sprint,
2008 European Track Championships – Junior
;2011
:1st

500m TT,
2011 British National Track Championships – Senior
:1st

Team Sprint,
2011 European Track Championships (with
Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With tw ...
)
:1st

500m TT,
2011 European Track Championships – U23
:1st

Team Sprint,
2011 European Track Championships – U23 (with
Becky James)
:3rd sprint,
2011 European Track Championships – U23
;2012
:1st Team sprint, round 4,
2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, London (with
Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. With tw ...
)
:1st Team sprint, round 1,
2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali (with
Becky James)
:1st Team sprint, round 2,
2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Glasgow (with
Becky James)
:2nd Individual Sprint, round 2,
2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Glasgow
:3rd Individual Sprint, round 1,
2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali
;2013
:1st

500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:1st

Team Sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:1st

Individual Sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:1st

Keirin,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:Revolution
::1st Sprint – Round 1, Manchester
::2nd Keirin – Round 1, Manchester
:3rd Individual Sprint,
2013 European Track Championships
:3rd Team sprint,
2013 European Track Championships (with
Becky James)
:3rd
Cottbus
Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...
Individual Sprint
;2014
:1st Sprint, Revolution – Round 4, Manchester
:1st 500m Time Trial, Cottbuser SprintCup
:Open des Nations sur Piste de Roubaix
::1st Sprint
::1st Team Sprint (with
Victoria Williamson)
:1st

500m TT,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:1st

Individual Sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:1st

Team sprint,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
(with
Dannielle Khan
Dannielle Jade Khan (born 1 September 1995) is an English racing cyclist, who currently rides for British amateur team Saint Piran WRT. She won the sprint and 500m TT events at the Juniors world championships in 2013, as well as the silver me ...
)
:1st

Keirin,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:3rd Team Sprint,
UCI Track World Championships (with
Becky James)
:
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...
::3rd

Sprint
::3rd

500m Time Trial
:3rd Team Sprint, GP von Deutschland im Sprint (with
Katy Marchant)
:3rd Sprint, Cottbuser Nächte
;2015
:Revolution
::1st Keirin – Round 3, Manchester
::1st Sprint – Round 3, Manchester
::2nd Sprint – Round 1, Derby
::2nd 500m Time Trial – Round 1, Derby
:1st
British National Team Sprint Championships
The British National Team Sprint Championships are held annually as part of the British National Track Championships organized by British Cycling. A women's championship was held for the first time in 2008.
Results Men
Women
See also
* Bri ...
(with
Katy Marchant)
:3rd Keirin,
British National Track Championships
The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national ch ...
:2nd Keirin, Öschelbronn
:3rd Sprint, Singen
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varnish, Jessica
1990 births
Living people
English female cyclists
English track cyclists
Sportspeople from Bromsgrove
Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists of Great Britain
Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England
Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games