Joanna Rowsell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Joanna Rowsell
MBE

Rowsell in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Joanna Rowsell
Born	(1988-12-05) 5 December 1988 (age 36) Carshalton, Greater London, England
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Team information

Joanna Katie Rowsell, who has an MBE award, is a former English cyclist. She was a key member of the Great Britain Cycling Team. Joanna competed in both track and road events.

Her biggest wins include two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. Both were for the women's team pursuit event. She also won five World Championship titles. Four of these were in the team pursuit in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2014. Her fifth world title was in the individual pursuit in 2014.

Joanna Rowsell once held the World Record for the 3 km team pursuit. She first became well-known in 2005 and 2006 by winning junior national cycling competitions.

Early Life and School Days

Joanna Rowsell was born in Carshalton, a town in Greater London. She went to Cuddington Croft Primary School from 1993 to 2000. Later, she attended Nonsuch High School for Girls from 2000 to 2007.

She also represented her local area, Sutton, in the London Youth Games. This showed her early talent in sports.

Joanna's Cycling Journey

Starting Out in Cycling

Joanna was discovered by British Cycling's Talent Team program in 2004. They tested her skills at her school. Her first big wins came in 2005 and 2006. As a junior, she won the British National Track Championships pursuit two years in a row.

In senior road cycling, she won the 2006 British National Women's Series. She also represented the UK at European and World Junior Championships. In 2007, she joined the professional team Global Racing. She continued to achieve success, including a second-place finish in the British National Circuit Race Championships.

Becoming a World Champion

In 2008, Joanna joined Team Halfords Bikehut. That same year, she won her first World Title. This was at the 2008 World Championships in Manchester. She was part of the winning women's team pursuit team.

Olympic Gold Medals

In 2012, Joanna prepared for the Olympics by winning at the Track Cycling World Cup in London. She won both the team pursuit and the individual pursuit. She was part of the team pursuit squad with Dani King and Laura Trott. They set a new world record at the 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in London.

They broke the record again at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Joanna won a gold medal. Her team set a new world record time of 3:14.051 in the final.

Winning gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics

In 2013, Joanna broke her collarbone. But just five weeks later, after surgery and training, she won the Women's Pursuit at the International Belgian Open. In 2016, Joanna won another gold medal in the Team Pursuit at the Rio Olympics.

Retirement from Cycling

On March 14, 2017, Joanna Rowsell announced she was retiring from cycling. She said it was the hardest decision she had ever made. She felt she had more to offer the world outside of competitive cycling.

About Joanna's Life

Joanna Rowsell has a condition called alopecia areata. This condition causes hair loss. She was given the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award in 2013. This was for her great contributions to cycling.

Her younger brother, Erick Rowsell, is also a professional road racing cyclist. In July 2015, Joanna married Daniel Shand and competed as Joanna Rowsell Shand for a time. After retiring from cycling, she went to Manchester Metropolitan University to study human biology. Later, in 2020, she became a medical student at St. George's Hospital Medical School.

Major Achievements

Joanna Rowsell had a very successful cycling career. Here are some of her most important wins:

• Olympic Games:
  • Gold medal in Team Pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics.
  • Gold medal in Team Pursuit at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• UCI Track Cycling World Championships:
  • Gold medals in Team Pursuit in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2014.
  • Gold medal in Individual Pursuit in 2014.
• UEC European Track Championships:
  • Gold medals in Team Pursuit in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
  • Gold medal in U23 Team Pursuit in 2008.
• Commonwealth Games:
  • Gold medal in Individual Pursuit at the 2014 Glasgow Games.
• British National Track Championships:
  • Multiple national titles in Individual Pursuit and Team Pursuit.

See also

In Spanish: Joanna Rowsell-Shand para niños

• 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes