Shanaze Reade facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Shanaze Reade

Reade in 2008
Personal information
Born	(1988-09-23) 23 September 1988 (age 36) Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Height	1.70 m
Weight	70 kg
Team information
Discipline	Bicycle Motocross (BMX) Track
Role	Racer
Rider type	BMX: Off Road Track: Sprinter

Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988) is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) and track cyclist. She started her main racing career in 2002. Shanaze has won the UCI BMX World Championships four times. She is known for her powerful riding style.

Early Life and Starting BMX

Shanaze Reade was mostly raised by her grandparents. She has said her grandfather helped her believe in herself. This confidence was key to her success in cycling.

She began racing BMX in 1998 when she was 10 years old. This was at Tipkinder Park in Crewe, England. A local track manager, Bob Field, became her helper and guide. Before BMX, Shanaze enjoyed track and field sports. She did 100-metre sprints and shot put for five years. However, she found these sports boring and then discovered BMX.

BMX Racing Successes

Shanaze was known for her strength. She built this strength by racing against boys and older amateur riders. In 2005, when she was only 17, she raced in the National series against men all year.

In July 2005, Shanaze broke her knee just two weeks before the UCI World Championships. She still raced with her knee wrapped and took pain medicine. However, she crashed in the quarter-finals.

Her first professional win was in the Girls Pro category. This happened at the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Winternationals in Phoenix, Arizona in April 2006. She won again the next day. In 2006, she became the British National No.1 in the 19 & Over Elite Men category. She achieved this by racing against men all year, even though she was only 17.

In June 2006, Shanaze broke a bone in her foot during practice. Her first race back was the 2006 European Championships. She competed in the last two races before the final event. Her cast was removed just four days before the final. Despite this injury, she won the World Championships in Brazil in August 2006.

Her junior BMX wins include three World titles, eight European titles, and five British championships.

Track Cycling Journey

Shanaze Reade is also a skilled track cyclist. She races on special indoor tracks called Velodromes. She started track racing on 24 February 2007. Her very first track competition was in Manchester. She took second place in the Team Sprint with Anna Blyth. Their qualifying time was the fastest of the event.

Shanaze Reade and Victoria Pendleton in 2008

Just a month later, on 29 March, Shanaze won first place in the Team Sprint. This was at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Palma de Mallorca. She raced with Victoria Pendleton. This was the first time a Women's Team Sprint Gold Medal was awarded in that event. Shanaze was a last-minute replacement for Anna Blyth.

This success in track racing followed the path of former professional BMX racer, Jamie Staff. He also had a successful career in both track and BMX racing. At the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, Shanaze won gold again in the women's team sprint with Victoria Pendleton.

In July 2007, she became the Women's Senior UCI BMX World Champion. At the 2007 UCI Track World Championships, she won gold in the women's team sprint with Victoria Pendleton. This was only her second track race ever! She was the first person to win a track championship in her first year. She did this after only six weeks of training. She had started track cycling to stay fit for BMX races.

Olympic Games Appearances

Shanaze focused on BMX for its first time in the Olympic Games in 2008. After winning the 2008 world championships, she was chosen as the only woman on the United Kingdom BMX Olympic team. Many thought she would win the gold medal.

In the 2008 Olympics, she crashed in the first qualifying race. But she set the second-fastest time in the second race. This helped her move to the semi-finals. She crashed again in the first semi-final race. However, she still earned enough points to reach the final. In the final, she rode carefully. She crashed again on the last turn when she touched another rider's wheel. This meant she missed out on a medal. She did not finish the race.

Shanaze also represented Great Britain in the women's BMX event at the London 2012 Olympics. She finished sixth in the final.

Retirement and Comeback

In April 2017, Shanaze Reade announced she was stopping competitive racing. This happened after she was removed from British Cycling's top team. In 2021, she explained that this decision was made because British Cycling's medical team thought she couldn't compete at the Tokyo Olympics. She had undergone five shoulder operations.

After retiring, she became a fitness coach. However, she gained weight during this time. In August 2018, she started training again at British Cycling. She had been invited back by the performance director, Stephen Park. In January 2019, Shanaze said she was returning to racing for "closure." She felt her body and mind were not at their best when she first retired. She also said she was treating the sport as a hobby and not taking money for her cycling.

That month, she won the British National Team Sprint Championships with Blaine Ridge-Davis. This was her first national title in any sport. However, she was then not allowed to compete in the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. This was due to a new rule requiring competitors to have raced in that season's World Cup. The team sprint squad sent to the world championships could not qualify for the Olympics. Shanaze then retired from racing for a second time.

She was later asked by the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association if she would try bobsleigh. This was with the idea of joining the British team for the 2022 Winter Olympics. But she said no.

Besides coaching, Shanaze is an ambassador for cycling and walking in the West Midlands. She also works as a brand ambassador for companies like HSBC. In 2020, she joined the board of directors for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow. In June 2021, she was also named an ambassador for the 2023 Worlds.

Titles and Awards

BMX Titles

Track Racing Results

See also

In Spanish: Shanaze Reade para niños