Victoria Louise Pendleton, (born 24 September 1980) is a British jockey and former track cyclist who specialised in the

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

, team sprint and

keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gamblin ...

disciplines. She is a former

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

, World, European and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

champion. With two Olympic gold medals and one silver, Pendleton is one of Great Britain's most successful female Olympians. Pendleton represented Great Britain and England in international cycling competition, winning nine world titles including a record six in the individual sprint, dominating the event between 2005 and 2012. In 2008 she won the

in the Beijing Olympics, and in 2012, she won the gold medal in the

at the London Olympics, as well as silver in the

. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to cycling. As a gold medalist at European, World and Olympic level, Pendleton is also a member of the European Cycling Union Hall of Fame.

Early life

Pendleton and her

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with t ...

brother Alex were born on 24 September 1980 at Stotfold,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, England, to Max Pendleton, a keen cyclist and former British National 8 km grass track cycling champion, and Pauline Viney. She has an older sister, Nicola Jane.

Career

Early years

Pendleton rode her first race, a 400m event on the grass track a
Mildenhall Cycling Club's
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 Fearnhill School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England. Admissions Fearnhill School (formerly Letchworth Grammar School) is a foundation comprehensive school located in Letchworth Garden Ci ...

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first Garden city movement, garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was ...

, and later a degree in Sport and Exercise Science by

Northumbria University , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

. She enjoyed some success on the track as a student before graduating and becoming a full-time cyclist.

Journey to the top

Pendleton won one bronze and three silver medals in the

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 ...

in 2001, while still a student. Between 2002 and 2004 she was a trainee at the

World Cycling Centre The World Cycling Centre (WCC, french: Centre Mondial du Cyclisme) is a coaching and training centre in Aigle, Switzerland. It contains a indoor velodrome, a BMX racing track and other non-cycling facilities. It was built in 2002 to celebrate the ...

Aigle , neighboring_municipalities= Vaud: Yvorne, Leysin, Ormont-Dessous, Ollon; Valais: Vouvry, Collombey-Muraz , twintowns = L'Aigle (France), Tübingen (Germany), Bassersdorf (Switzerland) } Aigle (French for "eagle", ; frp, Âgllo) is a his ...

, Switzerland. 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 The 2003 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany from July 30 to August 3, 2003. The championships were due to be held in Shenzh ...

in Stuttgart and the

2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship set of events for track cycling. Both men's and women's events took place, with nine men's events and six women's events. They took place in Melbourne, Australia from 2 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

. She ranked 2nd overall in the World Cup for the sprint in 2004, winning the World Cup event 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 ...

. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she finished sixth in the

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

and ninth in the 200 m

. 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. At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 ( Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

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 Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988 in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom) is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships thr ...

, the individual gold in the

, and a third gold in the

. She crowned the year by being named ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' Sportswoman of the Year for 2007, becoming the first cyclist to win the award in its 20-year history. Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association's sportswoman of the year for 2007. Victoria Pendleton

During her build-up to the Olympics she won two gold medals at 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 the

, and the team sprint, again with Reade. She was also second in the

. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pendleton won the gold medal in the

. She retained her title in the

at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in

Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along ...

. Each sprint was so closely matched it required several photos, leaving Pendleton emotional but victorious over her Dutch opponent,

Willy Kanis Willy Kanis (born 27 July 1984) in Kampen) is a Dutch female professional racing cyclist. Career highlights ;2003 :2nd 500 m, Dutch National Track Championships :2nd Sprint, Dutch National Track Championships ;2004 :2nd 500 m, Dutch National ...

. At the

2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was the World Championships for track cycling in 2011. The championships took place at the Omnisport Apeldoorn in Apeldoorn, Netherlands from 23 to 27 March 2011. In January 2012 it was announced tha ...

Pendleton won a silver in the team sprint, a bronze medal in the

and finished seventh in the

. Partnering

Jess Varnish Jessica Varnish (born 19 November 1990) is a former British track cyclist. 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 Var ...

, Pendleton won the team sprint in her only event at the British Championships. At the 2011 European Track Championships Pendleton won the team sprint and

titles, but only came eighth in the

. In February 2012 Pendleton and Varnish set a new world team sprint record of 32.754 seconds, beating

Kaarle McCulloch Kaarle McCulloch (born 20 January 1988) is an Australian former professional track cyclist and four time World Champion in the team sprint. She also won three golds at the Commonwealth Games and an Olympic bronze medal. She qualified for the T ...

and

Anna Meares Anna Maree Devenish Meares (born 21 September 1983) is an Australian retired track cyclist. She currently resides in Adelaide in South Australia where the Australian Institute of Sport's Track Cycling program has its headquarters at the Adelaid ...

of Australia at the Track World Cup in the

London Velodrome Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, England. It is owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and it was opened to the public in March 2014. The facility was one of the pe ...

. In the sprint and the keirin Pendleton came 4th and 5th respectively. In Pendleton's final 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships she won the

, 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. Pendleton finished without medals in her other two events. Victoria Pendleton2 (cropped)

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. She recovered to win a gold medal in the

. Pendleton set a new Olympic record of 10.724 seconds in the qualifiers of the sprint but lost in the final to Anna Meares, after being controversially relegated 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.

Horse racing

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 The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

, with guidance from horse trainer Paul Nicholls. She made her competitive debut in August 2015, finishing second in the Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Riders' Handicap at

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the cit ...

riding Royal Etiquette. She won her first race on 2 March 2016, guiding 5–4 favourite Pacha Du Polder to victory at

Wincanton Wincanton ( or ) is a small town and electoral ward in South Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. The town and electoral ward has a popul ...

. 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".

Outside sport

Victoria Pendleton Postbox Stotfold 2017

Pendleton featured on the cover of the July 2009 issue of men's magazine '' FHM''. She featured in the January 2012 issue of '' Harper's Bazaar'' magazine. 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. She was a "brand ambassador" for

Pantene Pantene () is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1945 by Hoffmann-La Roche, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient. It was purchased by Procter ...

hair-care products in the advent to London 2012. She was the subject of a BBC television programme which first aired in July. Pendleton was a contestant on series 10 of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', in which her professional partner was Brendan Cole. She was the seventh of the fourteen celebrities to leave the show on 25 November. Pendleton's autobiography ''Between the Lines'' was published following her retirement in September 2012. At the 2014 Conservative Party Conference, Pendleton introduced the

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

Nicky Morgan Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, (; born 10 October 1972) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Cultur ...

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." In 2016 Pendleton partnered with

Clinique Clinique Laboratories, LLC () is an American manufacturer of skincare, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances, usually sold in high-end department stores. It is a subsidiary of the Estée Lauder Companies. As of 2019, Clinique has over 22,000 cus ...

, joining as a Difference Maker for the Clinique Difference Initiative, with an aim to inspire women and support the provision of educational and healthcare support. In May 2018 she was forced to abandon a charity Everest ascent that she was doing with TV presenter Ben Fogle at Base Camp 2 at 6400 m (20,977 ft) when she experienced hypoxia, caused by a lack of oxygen. Fogle managed to reach the summit. It took her three weeks of antibiotics to get over chest and ear infections.

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. 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. In July 2018, Pendleton announced the break up of her marriage. For her 30th birthday, Pendleton had a line from

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chambe ...

' song "

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

" tattooed onto her right arm. In 2012, she was living in

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census. History Toponymy Wilmslow derives its name from O ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, but subsequently moved to the Chilterns. In 2019, Pendleton stated that she had suffered severe depression and had contemplated suicide after her failed Everest expedition, and an "unpleasant" divorce from her husband. In 2019 Pendleton competed on Channel 4's SAS Celebrity SU2C, "Who Dares, Wins" series. During COVID-19 in 2020 she posted on Instagram that she was fortunate to share lockdown with Louis Tinsley, ex-SBS operator and co-founder of clothing firm ThruDark, whom she is dating. Pendleton was accused of creating a "toxic atmosphere" during the filming of ITV's "Don't Rock The Boat" in November 2020 by crew mate Craig Charles. Defending herself she suggested her twin brother Alex, as a man, would have been treated differently. In 2021 she co-commentated on the woman's road racing cycling final as part of the BBCs Olympic 2020 coverage as their pundit in Tokyo.

Palmarès

;2002 :

National Track Championships National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

::1st

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ;2003 :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Keirin ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Scratch race ;2004 :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ;2005 :1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint, World Track Championships :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Keirin ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Scratch Race ;2006 :

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 ...

::1st

Sprint ::2nd Silver medal blank

Time trial :2nd Silver medal blank

Sprint, World Track Championships :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Keirin ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Scratch race :1st MaillotReinoUnido

National Derny Championship ;2007 : World Track Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint ::1st Jersey rainbow

Team sprint (with

) ::1st

Keirin :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Keirin :1st MaillotReinoUnido

National Derny Championship ;2008 :1st Gold medal

Sprint,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

: World Track Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint ::1st Jersey rainbow

Team sprint (with

) ::2nd

Keirin :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Team sprint (with

Anna Blyth Anna Blyth (born 15 May 1988) is an English racing cyclist from Leeds. She began racing at 15, having been spotted by British Cycling at Benton Park. She joined the World Class Start Programme, becoming a member of the Olympic Development Plan a ...

) ::1st

Keirin :3rd Sprint, Grand Prix de Vitesse de Saint Denis ;2009 : World Track Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint ::2nd Silver medal blank

Team sprint (with

) ::3rd

500 m time trial :National Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

500 m time trial ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Sprint ;2010 : World Track Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint ::2nd Silver medal blank

Keirin ;2011 :1st Gold medal blank

Team sprint (with Jessica Varnish),

European Track Championships The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC ...

: World Track Championships ::2nd Silver medal blank

Team sprint (with Jessica Varnish) ::3rd Bronze medal blank

Sprint ;2012 :

::1st

Keirin ::2nd Silver medal

Sprint :1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint, World Track Championships

References

Bibliography

External links

*
British Cycling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendleton, Victoria 1980 births English female cyclists English jockeys English autobiographers Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in cycling Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain English Olympic medallists Cyclists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Northumbria University Twin sportspeople English twins People from Stotfold People educated at Fearnhill School Living people Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling English track cyclists Women autobiographers The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners

Early life

Career

Early years

Journey to the top

Horse racing

Outside sport

Personal life

Palmarès

See also

References

Bibliography

External links