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Top 10 Sexiest and Hottest Women Athletes in the World
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Vicky Pendleton- Cycling: Victoria
Louise Pendleton, MBE was born on 24 September 1980. She is a British former
track cyclist who specialised in the sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines.
Pendleton represented Great Britain and England in international competition,
winning nine world titles including a record six in the individual sprint
competition. Pendleton is the reigning World champion for the sprint, and a
former Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion. In 2012 she won the gold
medal in the keirin at the 2012 Summer Olympics, as well as silver in the
sprint.
In the 2009 New Year Honours Pendleton was appointed a Member of the Order of
the British Empire (MBE)
Victoria Louise Pendleton, and her twin brother Alex James Pendleton, were born
on 24 September 1980 in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, England, to Max Pendleton, a
keen cyclist and former British national grass track cycling champion, and
Pauline M Viney. She also has an older sister, Nicola Jane.
Pendleton rode her first race, a 400m event on the grass track at Fordham 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.
Pendleton won one bronze and three silver medals in the British National Track
Championships in 2001, while still a student. She qualified for the 2002
Commonwealth Games team, finishing fourth in the sprint. She again came fourth
in the sprint at the 2003 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Stuttgart and
the 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne. She ranked 2nd
overall in the World Cup for the sprint in 2004, winning the World Cup event in
Manchester.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she finished sixth in the time trial and ninth in
the 200m sprint.
Pendleton won her first major medal with gold in the sprint at the 2005 UCI
Track Cycling World Championships. She became the third British woman to become
a cycling world champion in 40 years.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she won silver in the 500m time
trial and gold in the sprint.
At the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won the team sprint with
Shanaze Reade, the individual gold in the sprint, and a third gold in the keirin.
She crowned the year by being named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for
2007, becoming the first cyclist to win the award in its 20-year history.
Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain's
sportswoman of the year for 2007.
During her build-up to the Olympics she won two gold medals at the 2008 UCI
Track Cycling World Championships in the sprint, and the team sprint, again with
Reade. She was also second in the keirin. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Pendleton
won the gold medal in the sprint.
She retained her title in the sprint at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World
Championships in Pruszk�w. Each sprint was so closely matched it required
several photos, leaving Pendleton emotional but victorious over her Dutch
opponent, Willy Kanis.
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.
Partnering Jess Varnish, Pendleton won the team sprint in her only event at the
British Championships. At the 2011 European Track Championships Pendleton won
the team sprint and keirin titles, but only came eighth in the sprint.
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. In the sprint and the keirin Pendleton
came 4th and 5th respectively. In Pendleton's final 2012 UCI Track Cycling World
Championships she won the sprint, her sixth title. She fell in the first heat of
the semi-final against Meares. In the second heat Meares was relegated for going
outside her lane. In the decider Pendleton won in a photo finish before
defeating Simona Krupeckaite, winning 2�0 with the second win coming from
another relegation. Pendleton finished without medals in her other two events.
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.
She recovered to win a gold medal in the keirin.Pendleton set a new Olympic
record of 10.724 seconds in the qualifiers of the sprint but lost in the final
to Anna Meares, after being controversially relegated in the first run and being
beaten in the second run, earning a silver medal. This would be Pendleton's
final competitive race as she retires from professional cycling.
Pendleton featured on the cover of the July 2009 issue of men's magazine FHM.
She featured in the January 2012 issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine. In February
2012, Halfords released a Pendleton branded range of women's bikes on which
Pendleton herself had worked as a design consultant. She was a "brand
ambassador" for Pantene hair-care products in the advent to London 2012. She was
the subject of a BBC television programme which first aired in July. She
featured on the cover of the August 2012 issue of Esquire magazine.
Pendleton was a contestant on series 10 of Strictly Come Dancing, in which her
professional partner was Brendan Cole. She was the seventh of the fourteen
celebrities to leave the show on 25 November.Pendleton's autobiography Between
the Lines was released following her retirement in September 2012.
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.
Following the 2008 Olympics, when it became more widely known, Gardner was
obliged to leave the team, though he was later re-hired; the couple are now
engaged.For her 30th birthday, Pendleton had a line from The Smashing Pumpkins'
song "Today" tattooed onto her right arm.
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Dated 10 December 2012
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