BEIJING -- After becoming the first British woman to win the world sprint title in Los Angeles in 2005, track cyclist Victoria Pendleton, 27, has quite a collection of golds, including five in the 2007 and 2008 World Track Championships.
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Britain's Victoria Pendleton reacts after winning gold in the women's sprint on the fourth day of competition at the track cycling world championships in Manchester, northern England, March 29, 2008. [Agencies]
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Now the most important target of the Queen of Track Sprinting, the title given by her fans, is to win an Olympic gold next month in Beijing.
"To be the best at something. It's all that I have ever wanted since I was a child, to be really good at something, better than everyone else, and this is my opportunity," Pendleton said earlier.
Born in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, she rode her first race, a 400m event on the grass track at Fordham at the age of 9. Pendleton showed her promise at the age of 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, and was later awarded with a degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne.
At the 2005 World Championships, Pendleton won her first major medal with a gold in the women's sprint. She became the third British woman to become a cycling world champion in 40 years. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she won a silver in the 500m time trial and a gold in the sprint in Melbourne.
At the 2007 UCI (International Cycling Union) Track World Championships, she won the women's team sprint with Shanaze Reade, the individual gold in the sprint, and a third gold in the Keirin.
She crowned this fantastic year off by being named the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2007, becoming the only cyclist to win the award in its 20-year history.
Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association of Britain's Sportswoman of the Year for 2007.
Helping her to win those stripes back are numerous people including national sprint coach Iain Dyer, consultant coach and former German star Jan van Eijden and in the gym Mark Simpson of the EIS.
Jan Van Eijden, the former world sprint champion has impressed upon Pendleton that the winner is not always the rider who makes the best moves, but the one who makes the fewest mistakes.
"Mark has been in control of my strength and conditioning program for over a year now. Before him we had someone come in part time but now I have full time one to one coaching, looking at every lift I do, and that has helped a lot in my improvements," said Pendleton.
"We're also getting a lot of data coming from the track too thanks to Scott in the EIS and we're hoping to use these to see the relationships between gym and the data on the track and its going to be an important part of our preparation for Beijing."
Now the slightly-built sprinter has cancelled all media engagements over the last months to concentrate on her busy schedule for the Beijing Olympic Games.
It's the sprint race in Beijing, the only Olympic cycling sprint event that will define her sporting year.
She is believed a strong favourite for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after having considered retirement from the sport due to her disastrous 2004 Summer Olympics where she finished 6th in the time trial and 9th in the 200m sprint.
Her build-up to the Beijing Olympics has been boosted by two gold medals at the 2008 UCI Track World Championships where she won the women's sprint, and the women's team sprint. She was also second in the women's keirin.
Women's sprint competition is expected to be really difficult for anyone wanting to win it. The times from the top girls are now very close and there are at least half a dozen riders capable of taking the rainbow jersey home including Pendleton.
As seen in many a World Championship though, the fastest rider in qualifying is not always the winner of the title and tactics play a big part. And the British team are also making moves to help better prepare their riders for that side of the event.
When talking about the Beijing Olympic Games, Pendleton said, "There's not a lot I can do about it. All I can do is preparing as well as I can.
"I am looking towards Beijing in a whole different way. I want to make the most of it and enjoy being part of the whole Olympic experience, because I didn't do that in Athens," Pendleton added.
