Victoria Louise Pendleton (born 24 September 1980) is a British former track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. She is a former Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion. She won a total of three Olympic medals (two golds and one silver) during her career.
Pendleton won a total of nine world titles, including a record six in the individual sprint, dominating the event between 2005 and 2012. She also won world titles in the team sprint in both 2007 and 2008, as well as in the keirin in 2007. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the sprint, and in the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the keirin, as well as a silver medal in the sprint.
Pendleton and her twin brother Alex were born on 24 September 1980 at Stotfold, England. Her father, Max Pendleton, was a former British National 8km grass track cycling champion.[3]
Career
Early years
Pendleton rode her first race, a 400m event, on the grass track at 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 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.[4][5]
Pendleton won her first major medal with gold in the sprint at the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. She overcame Anna Meares in the semi-finals, before triumphing against Tamilla Abassova in the final. She became the first British woman to become a track cycling world champion since Beryl Burton in 1966. Afterwards, Pendleton acknowledged "Riding against Anna Meares in the semi-final was the hardest part of this. I'd never beaten her before and she nailed me in the Commonwealth Games [...] My coach Shane Sutton told me how much I wanted it and needed it and I just had to ride like it was the last race I would ever ride."[8]
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she won silver in the 500 m time trial (behind Anna Meares). She then defeated Meares in the final of the sprint to secure the gold medal.[9][10] The following month, at the 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Bordeaux, Pendleton could not defend her world sprint title. She finished in second position after she was beaten by Natalia Tsylinskaya in the final.[11][12] In the keirin, an incident with rival Anna Meares caused Meares to be relegated, but Pendleton was left unable to challenge for a medal. Meares apologised afterwards, but the incident started a long-term rivalry between the pair.[13][14] Pendleton won three gold medals at the Manchester leg of the 2006-07 Track Cycling World Cup, securing victories in the sprint, keirin and 500m time trial.[15]
During her build-up to the Olympics she won two gold medals at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the sprint (overcoming Simona Krupeckaite in the final, and the team sprint, again with Reade.[20][21] She was also second in the keirin.[22] At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pendleton won the gold medal in the sprint. She defeated Meares in the final, and afterwards, she acknowledged the help that psychiatristSteve Peters had had on her career since she started working with him following the previous Olympic Games in 2004. Pendleton was critical of the Olympics, after only three medal events in track cycling were available for women, whereas there were seven medal events in the men's Olympic schedule. Only one of the women's races was in a discipline that Pendleton competed in, and she said she felt "sick" by the decision, and stated "I think something really does need to be done about that. It's just not fair - it wouldn't happen in other sports."[23] In the 2008-09 World Cup, Pendleton won three gold medals at the meeting in Manchester, triumphing in the keirin, sprint and 500m time trial.[24]
At the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Ballerup, Pendleton again retained her world sprint tile. She defeated Meares in the semi-finals before overcoming Guo Shuang in the gold medal contest to achieve victory in the event for the fourth year in succession.[28] She also claimed a silver medal in the kierin.[29] Later that year, she won her ninth consecutive British sprint title at the National Championships.[30] She also won the 500m time trial for the eighth time, her 25th national track title overall. Pendleton then chose not to participate at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in order to focus on the upcoming European Championships.[31] There, she won a silver medal in the team sprint with Jess Varnish.[32] In the 2010-11 World Cup, Pendleton won silver medals in the sprint and team sprint in Melbourne,[33][34] before securing gold medals in the team sprint and keirin in Cali.[35][36]
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.[37] Her second placed position in the sprint meant that she failed to become world sprint champion for the first time since 2006, and she later admitted that this had affected her confidence and led to self-doubt. She reflected, "The worst thing you can do is start doubting what you do. As soon as you start doubting your training programme and over-analysing it, you just start spiralling down. And I'm an emotional person."[38] Partnering Varnish, Pendleton won the team sprint in her only event at the British Championships.[39] At the 2011 European Track Championships, Pendleton won the team sprint[40] and keirin titles, but only came eighth in the sprint.[41]
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.[42] In Pendleton's final 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won the sprint, her sixth world title in that discipline. She progressed past Meares in their semi-final on a photo finish before defeating Simona Krupeckaitė, winning 2–0 with the second win coming from a relegation to her opponent.[43] Pendleton finished without medals in her other two events, the keirin and the team sprint.[44][45]
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.[46] She recovered to win a gold medal in the keirin.[47] Pendleton set a new Olympic record of 10.724 seconds in the qualifiers of the sprint[48] but lost in the final to Anna Meares, after being controversially relegated[49] in the first run, and being beaten in the second run, thus earning a silver medal. This was Pendleton's final competitive race before she retired from professional cycling.[50]
In 2016, Pendleton, reflecting on the end of her cycling career, revealed that she had not enjoyed the atmosphere at British Cycling, stating “I couldn’t stay working with those people,” adding, “If, four years ago, they’d made the changes that they’ve made now, I would’ve been a lot happier and probably would’ve performed better.”[51] Speaking about the aftermath of her silver medal in her final race at the Olympics, Pendleton has claimed, "My coaches left the village without saying goodbye. I didn’t expect them to. Why would they? They were glad to be rid of me.”[52]
Horse racing and other sports
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.[53] She made her competitive debut in August 2015, finishing second in the Betfair Novice Flat Amateur Riders' Handicap at Ripon riding Royal Etiquette.[54] She won her first race on 2 March 2016, guiding 5–4 favourite Pacha Du Polder to victory at Wincanton.[55]
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".[56]
On 19 July 2017, at invitation of English Heritage, she spent a bootcamp day at Kenilworth Castle to learn the basic trainings of the medieval sport of jousting. She stated afterwards: "I have a huge amount of respect for the sport now – much greater than before – and I think people would be surprised to learn how numb your senses are when dressed in armour top-to-toe."[57]
Pendleton featured on the cover of the July 2009 issue of men's magazine FHM.[58] She featured in the January 2012 issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine.[59] 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.[60] She was a "brand ambassador" for Pantene hair-care products in the advent to London 2012.[61] She was the subject of a BBC television documentary which first aired in July 2012.[62]
Pendleton's autobiography Between the Lines was published following her retirement in September 2012.[66][67]
At the 2014 Conservative Party Conference, Pendleton introduced the Secretary of State for EducationNicky 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."[68]
In 2016, Pendleton partnered with Clinique, 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.[69]
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 6400m (20,977ft) when she experienced hypoxia, caused by a lack of oxygen.[70] It took her three weeks of antibiotics to get over chest and ear infections.[71]
On Tuesday 23 July 2024, Pendleton was made Honorary Colonel and corps ambassador to HM Royal Marines alongside explorer Dwayne Fields.[72]
Personal life
In 2009, Pendleton was made an MBE, and she received a CBE in 2013.[73][74][75]
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.[76] 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.[77] The couple initially hid their relationship from other members of the team, and when the news came out, Pendleton said “They were so upset with me – disgusted, like I’d committed a crime," adding "But the relationship didn’t make me any less of an athlete or any less professional or any less successful." Pendleton said the reaction left her "distraught".[52] In July 2018, Pendleton announced the break up of her marriage.[78]
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.[80][81][82]
In 2019, Pendleton competed on Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins for Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C).[83] During COVID-19 in 2020, she posted on Instagram that she shared lockdown with Louis Tinsley, ex-SBS operator and co-founder of clothing firm ThruDark, whom she is dating.[81]
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.[84][85] In 2021, she co-commentated on the women's road racing cycling final as part of the BBC's Olympic 2020 coverage as their pundit in Tokyo.[86][87] In January 2025, she appeared on an episode the Channel 4 show The Dog House in which she adopted a rescued Rhodesian Ridgeback named Leilo.[88]
In June 2023, she announced that her brother, Alex, had died from a brain tumour.[89]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
