Entries Tagged 'british' ↓
June 17th, 2008 — british
Chris Hoy was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 23rd 1976. From a young age he was active in many sports. He represented Scotland at a junior level for BMX and rowing.
Chris joined his first cycling club, Dunedin CC, in 1992. He participated in different cycling disciplines such as Time Trials, Road and Track. However, after a couple of years he focused on track racing and joined the City of Edinburgh Racing Club.
His talents on the track were spotted by the British tack team and Chris has been a member of the British squad since 1996.
Chris also found time to complete a degree in applied sports science graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 1999
2000 Olympics
At the 2000 Olympics, Chris won the silver medal in the team sprint with Jason Queally and Craig Maclean
2004 Olympics
Chris won gold in the individual 1km time trial. The 1Km time trial was considered to be Chris’s best discipline, but unfortunately the Olympic committee decided to scrap the event to make room for a bmx discipline. However, since the decision to scrap the 1km pursuit, Chris has shifted his focus to other disciplines such as the, individual 500m sprint, the team sprint, and the Keirin
World Record for 1Km Time Trial
On 12th May, Chris attempted to break the World Record for the Kilometre Time Trial at altitude in la Paz, Mexico. At his first attempt he fell just 0.005 short, clocking 58.880. However, he managed to recover and in the afternoon he succeeded in breaking the record for the 500m flying start of 24.758 secs. It was a remarkable achievement given the difficulties he faced in travelling to the track at altitude. Doctors were amazed at his recovery from his first record attempt (he had been desperately short of oxygen as he finished the attempt.)
2008 World Championships
In the 2008 World Championships, Chris eskwed the 1km time trial as it is no longer in the Olympics. Instead he successfully turned his attention to sprint events and the keirin. In doing so he became the first athlete to win a gold medal in 4 different disciplines. In the last 9 years he has won 19 medals at World Championships or Olympics (10 of these medals have been gold)
Although, still a novice in the keirin, he now looks to be one of the favourites for the Olympic title. Although he was rightly disappointed when the 1Km race was removed, it may be that it was a blessing in disguise as he now has a chance to win Gold in 3 different events.
2008 Olympics
Chris Hoy was Britain’s most successful Olympian winning 3 Gold Medals
- Team Sprint (team also set a new world record in qualifying events)
- Individual Sprint
- Keirin
2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award
Chris Hoy Won the BBC sports personality of the year, beating many other excellent contenders. Speaking after receiving the award, Chris said:
“After the year I’ve had and the whole team has had, to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year, it just means so much. This is the big one and this is just unbelievable.
“Standing here holding it in my hands, looking at the names on this trophy, it’s quite incredible.”
Chris Hoy
DoB: 23 March 1976
Height: 1.85m
Weight: 92kg
Photo Top: Chris Hoy in 1Km Time trial at UK Sport
June 17th, 2008 — british
Rebecca Romero is an Olympic silver medalist at rowing. After retiring from rowing, after the 2005 World Championships, she made a seamless transition to cycling and represents an excellent chance for a future Olympic medal. To win an Olympic medal at different disciplines is quite a rare occurrence and is unheard of in a sport as different as rowing and cycling.
Born in Twickenham, London in 1980, Rebecca didn’t take up rowing until the relatively late age of 17. However, once she had taken up the sport she made rapid progress to become a key member of the British Olympic squad.
In December 2006, after only recently making the switch to cycling, Rebecca won the Silver medal in a World Cup event in the 3,000 mertres track pursuit. (She was beaten by fellow Briton Wendy Houvenhagel.)
World Championships
Rebecca won silver in the 2007 World Championships in Palma Mallorca
On 16th February 2008, Rebecca won gold in the World Cup meet in Copenhagen and now represents one of the leading candidates for winning the Olympic Gold in Beijing.
Chris Boardman who helps in the training of British cyclists has been impressed by the physical capacity and mental strength of Rebecca. Speaking on Rebecca he said:
“She’s prepared to ask the hard questions and her commitment is unquestioned,” he said. “She’s utterly uninterested in the silver medal. She’s been there and done that and she doesn’t want another one. It’s fantastic but quite scary as well with her level of commitment.”
2008 World Championships Manchester
- Won Gold in 3KM Individual Pursuit
- 3KM Team pursuit with Wendy Houvenaghel and Joanna Rowsell
External Links
June 17th, 2008 — british
Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins, OBE was born 28 April 1980 in Ghent, Belgium. Bradley grew up in London where he developed an interest in cycling from an early age. He first started racing at Herne Hill Velodrome at the age of 12.
At the age of 20 he competed in his first Olympics winning bronze in the team pursuit.
By the Athens Olympics of 2004, Bradley had become won of the leading track pursuiters and he won Gold in the 4,000 Km pursuit, silver in the team sprint and a bronze with Rob Hayles in the team Madison. His tally of 3 medals has rarely been accomplished by any British Olympian. Shortly afterwards he was awarded an OBE. Despite his success, Bradley remains modest, speaking of his success to BBC he said:
“I was told a medal was still possible but this sort of thing only happens to other people. I never thought this could happen to me.”
Bradley became a full time professional cyclist in 2001, riding for the short lived Linda McCartney team. He has also ridden for Francais de Jeux, Credit Agricole and Cofidis. Success on the road has proved more difficult than on the track. However, 2007 saw a good Tour de France, finishing 4th in the prologue time trial and staging a long lone break on stage 6, where he was out in front for most of the day. Unfortunately for Bradley, his team, Cofidis were forced to later leave the tour when teammate Christian Moreni failed a drugs test. Helped by the ethos of British cycling, Bradley has developed a good reputation for discouraging the use of doping in the professional scene.
Speaking of the pressure involved in being a cyclist, with so much riding on 4-10 minutes, Bradley remains philosophical about the pressures involved.
”I’ve learnt to deal with it because if you stick to the truth it’s actually clear and simple. It’s just a case of going from point A to B as fast as you can. Why be overawed by the occasion - just because you’ve got a chance to win the opening stage of the world’s biggest race or because three million people are watching on television?” source: Guardian
In the 2008, World Track Championships, Bradley won Gold in the 4km Pursuit, he was also a member of the world record breaking team pursuit, who set a new record.
In 2008, Bradley is riding for team High Pursuit.
Bradley Takes success in his stride at BBC
(My claim to fame is beating Bradley Wiggins in a race. It was the Bec hill climb in 2006. I think Bradley was asked to come and give out the prizes and so he agreed to race as well. However, I should point out that I saw him ride up the climb in his training gear with water bottle e.t.c. I think he was just doing a bit of training. Nevertheless it is still nice to have a full time professional come to local races.)
2008 Beijing Olympics
- Gold Medal in 4Km Pursuit. Also set new Olympic Record of 4 mins 15.03 in qualifying
- Madison
- Team Pursuit
Bradley Wiggins on Track
Picture: top: Bradley Wiggins riding in 2007 Prologue Time Trial, source wikipedia
British Track Cycling
Olympic Track cycling
June 17th, 2008 — british
One of the World’s leading female track cyclists, Victoria Pendleton is one of Britain’s leading hopes for an Olympic gold medal. Since graduating with a degree in sports science from Newcastle University, Victoria has had a meteoric rise to the top of track cycling, become a key member of Britain’s successful track team.
More on Victoria Pendleton
Images of Victoria Pendleton
Victoria Pendleton featured in the Times
Victoria Pendleton was named sportswoman of the year by the association of Sports Journalists
Source: Sports Journalist
Glamour Photos
As well as gaining recognition on the track, Victoria has gained a high profile through a couple of glamorous photo shoots. The first photo showed her in an attractive black dress on a Lotus bike. It was certainly a different perspective on a track cyclist, - where tight fitting lycra and bulging muscles are more common. Speaking about the photo shoot, Victoria said:
“I knew when I did the shoot it would stir up opinion, people would be for or against, but I don’t regret the picture at all… Actually I was quite please with the picture, people could see what I am about, that I am not just a track cyclist.” (Daily Telegraph interview 26/03/08)
More recently, Victoria agreed to pose for the Guardian newspaper magazine in a shot reminiscent of a former photo of Lance Armstrong. - Wearing no clothes, but strategically taken.
More on Victoria Pendleton
Video of Victoria Pendleton winning Gold in World Championships
