Victoria Pendleton

A world and Olympic gold medallist, Victoria Pendleton is part of a strong Great Britain team expected to top the velodrome medal table in London. Out of the medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, she won her debut world title in the women’s sprint in 2005 - the first British woman to do so for 40 years. 2007 saw Pendleton cement her place as the leading track sprinter in women’s cycling, claiming world championship gold medals in the individual sprint, team sprint and keirin. With the individual spring the only one of the three events on offer to women at the Beijing Olympics, Pendleton set an Olympic record in qualifying and beat Australia’s Anna Meares in the final to claim Olympic gold. Awarded an MBE in the Queen’s honours list, she defended her sprint world title in both 2009 and 2010. Her final World Championships was in Melbourne in 2012, where Pendleton struggled to make an impact in the keirin but picked up a sixth world gold in the sprint. Despite Meares setting a new world record in qualifying, Pendleton defeat the Australian in a third race photo finish in the semi-final before easing to victory in the final. The new Olympic cycling roster offers equal medal opportunities for female riders in London, meaning that veteran of the sport Pendleton will target three gold medals to end her Olympic career on a high. Amongst the favourites for individual sprint, team sprint and keirin gold, the pressure will be huge on Pendleton, and in Australians Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch she will face strong competition in all three events.