Victoria Pendleton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Victoria Pendleton
CBE OLY

Pendleton in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Victoria Louise Pendleton
Nickname	Queen Victoria
Born	(1980-09-24) 24 September 1980 (age 44) Stotfold, Bedfordshire, England
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter

Victoria Louise Pendleton (born 24 September 1980) is a famous British former track cyclist. She was amazing at sprint, team sprint, and keirin races. Victoria has won many big titles, including Olympic, World, European, and Commonwealth championships.

With two Olympic gold medals and one silver, Victoria Pendleton is one of Great Britain's most successful female Olympic athletes. She won nine world titles, with six of them in the individual sprint event. She was the best in the world at sprint cycling between 2005 and 2012.

In 2008, she won a gold medal in the sprint at the Beijing Olympics. At the London Olympics in 2012, she won another gold in the keirin and a silver in the sprint.

Victoria was given special awards for her services to cycling. She is also part of the European Cycling Union Hall of Fame because of her gold medals at European, World, and Olympic levels.

Victoria Pendleton's Early Life

Victoria Pendleton and her twin brother, Alex, were born on 24 September 1980. Their hometown is Stotfold, England. Her dad, Max Pendleton, loved cycling and was a British National 8 km grass track cycling champion. Victoria also has an older sister named Nicola Jane.

Victoria's Amazing Career

Starting Her Cycling Journey

Victoria rode in her first race when she was just nine years old. It was a 400m event on a grass track. She showed great talent at 13 and was noticed by a national track coach when she was 16. At that time, Victoria wanted to focus on her schoolwork. She studied at Fearnhill School and later earned a degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Northumbria University. She had some success in cycling while studying before becoming a full-time cyclist.

Becoming a Cycling Champion

Victoria won several medals at the British National Track Championships in 2001 while still a student. From 2002 to 2004, she trained at the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland. She competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth in the sprint. She also placed fourth in the sprint at the World Championships in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, she ranked second overall in the World Cup for sprint, winning an event in Manchester.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she finished sixth in the time trial and ninth in the 200m sprint.

Victoria won her first big gold medal in the sprint at the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. She was only the third British woman in 40 years to become a cycling world champion!

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she won a silver medal in the 500m time trial and a gold medal in the sprint.

Pendleton celebrates winning the sprint at the 2008 World Championships.

In 2007, at the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Victoria won three gold medals! She won the team sprint with Shanaze Reade, the individual sprint, and the keirin. That year, she was named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year. She was the first cyclist to win this award in its 20-year history.

Before the 2008 Olympics, she won two more gold medals at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. These were for the sprint and the team sprint (again with Shanaze Reade). She also got a silver medal in the keirin. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Victoria won the gold medal in the sprint, which was a huge achievement!

She kept her sprint title at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. The races were very close, but Victoria won against her Dutch opponent, Willy Kanis.

At the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Victoria won a silver in the team sprint and a bronze in the individual sprint. She also won the team sprint and keirin titles at the 2011 European Track Championships.

In February 2012, Victoria and her teammate Jess Varnish set a new world record in the team sprint. This happened at the Track World Cup in London. In her final 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won the sprint, which was her sixth world title in that event!

Pendleton celebrates winning the keirin at the 2012 London Olympics.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Victoria and Jess Varnish broke the world record in the team sprint during the qualifying rounds. However, they were later disqualified in the semi-finals. Victoria bounced back and won a gold medal in the keirin event. She also set a new Olympic record in the sprint qualifiers. In the sprint final, she won a silver medal. This was Victoria's last professional cycling race, as she retired afterwards.

Life After Cycling: Horse Racing and More

In March 2015, Victoria decided to try something new: becoming a jockey! Her goal was to compete in the Foxhunter Chase at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. She had help from horse trainer Paul Nicholls. She rode in her first race in August 2015 and finished second.

On 2 March 2016, she won her first horse race! Then, on 18 March 2016, Victoria achieved her dream of riding in the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham. She finished fifth, which was better than many people expected. She said it was "probably the greatest achievement of my life."

In 2017, she even tried medieval jousting at Kenilworth Castle! She said she gained a lot of respect for the sport after trying it.

Victoria's Life Outside Sports

Gold postbox in honour of Pendleton in Stotfold

Victoria has done many things outside of sports. She appeared in Harper's Bazaar magazine and helped design a range of women's bikes for Halfords. She was also a "brand ambassador" for Pantene hair products.

She was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2012, where she danced with professional partner Brendan Cole.

After retiring from cycling, Victoria wrote her autobiography called Between the Lines, which was published in September 2012.

In 2016, she worked with Clinique to inspire women and support education and healthcare. In 2018, she tried to climb Mount Everest for charity with TV presenter Ben Fogle. She had to stop due to health issues, but Ben Fogle reached the top.

In July 2024, Victoria was made an Honorary Colonel and ambassador for HM Royal Marines.

Personal Life

Victoria Pendleton married Scott Gardner in September 2013. Scott was a sports scientist with the British Cycling team. They later separated in July 2018.

For her 30th birthday, Victoria got a tattoo on her arm with a line from the song "Today" by The Smashing Pumpkins.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, she shared that she was dating Louis Tinsley. In 2021, she worked as a cycling expert for the BBC during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In June 2023, Victoria shared the sad news that her twin brother, Alex, had passed away from a brain tumour.

Achievements and Medals

See also

In Spanish: Victoria Pendleton para niños

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of Olympic medalists in cycling (women)
• 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom
• List of British cyclists
• Cycle Republic