Victoria Pendleton
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Victoria Pendleton |
| Date of birth |
September 24 1980 (1980-09-24) (age 27) |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Height |
1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1] |
| Weight |
60 kg (132 lb)[1] |
| Team information |
| Discipline |
Track |
| Role |
Rider |
| Major wins |
 Sprint world champion (2005, 2007)
Keirin world champion (2007)
Team sprint world champion (2007) |
| Infobox last updated on: |
| December 14, 2007 |
Victoria Pendleton (born 24 September 1980[1]) is an English world champion track cyclist. Born in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, she was awarded a degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne. Pendleton won four silver medals in the British National Track Championships in 2001, whilst still a student. In 2002, she qualified for the England Commonwealth Games team, finishing fourth in the sprint. She again came fourth in the sprint at the 2003 World Championships in Stuttgart and the 2004 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 6th in the Women's Time Trial and 9th in the Women's 200m sprint At the 2005 World Championships, Pendleton won her first major medal with gold in the Women's Sprint. She became the third Bitish woman to become a cycling world champion in 40 years.[2] At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she won silver in the Women's 500m time trial and gold in the Women's Sprint in Melbourne. At the 2007 UCI Track World Championships, she won the gold in the Women's Team Sprint with Shanaze Reade, the individual gold in the Women's Sprint, and a third gold in the Women's Keirin.[3] She crowned this fantastic year off by being named the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2007, becoming the only cyclist to win the award in its 20 year history.[4] Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain's sportswoman of the year for 2007.[5] She is now a strong favourite for the 2008 Beijing Olympics; after having considered retirement from the sport due to her disastrous 2004 Summer Olympics.
References
External links
England
