Victoria Pendleton
st y le
a good sport Olympic cyclist-turned-jockey Victoria Pendleton is now an ambassador for the Laureus Sport For Good foundation. We catch up with her at the launch of the new IWC Portofino watch B y L o r n a D a vi e s
“I
was incredibly shy growing up,” says British world and Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton. “The only time I got thrown out of class was because I refused to read out loud. I was too afraid of stumbling over my words in front of my peers.” It’s an almost astonishing admission from the gold medalist. She’s very confident, warm and open. “You can ask me anything, about anything,” she tells the small group of journalists, a very rare (and refreshing) statement from an interviewee.
Two wheels were a foregone conclusion for Victoria, with her father Max a British national grass-track cycling champion. Born in Bedfordshire in 1980, she rode a bike “at the same time as being able to walk”. She’s spoken before about her father cycling away from her contributing to her fear of failure (and probably her talent for sprints). “Sport was the one thing that allowed me to express myself,” Victoria says. “The process of sport breaks barriers. You get given a set of rules, and everybody can be included in that, and everything can be adapted to include everybody as well, which is really special.” Victoria studied Sport and Exercise Science at Northumbria University, taking home three silver medals at the British National Track Championships while she was a student in 2001. Countless titles and achievements followed, including becoming the first British woman to win a cycling gold in four decades at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2005; winning golds at the Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics; and of course her swansong world record team sprint and gold in the Kerin at the 2012 London Olympics. In between was a somewhat tumultuous time of falling in love with one of her coaches (seen as unprofessional in the sport),
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Inspiring young people is on Victoria’s mind. We’re at IWC Schaffhausen on Bond Street to celebrate her becoming a Sport for Good Ambassador for Laureus, and the launch of the Portofino Automatic Moon Phase 37 Edition watch. “I feel very proud to be an ambassador – I didn’t think they’d ask me,” a typically modest Victoria says. “You feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work within sport because it’s a rare and unique opportunity. There are only very few people who get to make a career out of it so I have always felt very blessed. I know full well that there are a lot of people around the world who don’t have anywhere near the “The process of sport opportunities, upbringing and support breaks barriers. You get that I have received, so it’s nice to be able given a set of rules, and to help and to know it is going to make a difference.” everything can be adapted The watch is limited to 1,500 worldwide to include everybody, and has a special design. IWC holds an which is really special” annual drawing competition for children and adolescents, which this year was won by 16-year-old Eleni Partakki from Cyprus. Eleni is a participant from PeacePlayers International Cyprus, a project that encourages Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot boys and girls living in the divided communities of Cyprus to play basketball together. Eleni’s design is engraved on the back of the watch. Victoria joins more than 180 fellow ambassadors for Laureus Victoria Pendleton Sport for Good around the world. sporting the IWC Portofino Automatic She’s full of enthusiasm and energy, skills that certainly would Moon Phase 37 have helped her Cheltenham success. Switching saddles seems Edition watch a daunting task, and Victoria says the mental pressures were challenging. “You’ve got to overcome the fact that you’ve got a 600-ish kilo animal who has a brain and you’re putting your faith in him or her and they’re putting their faith in you. That’s a unique relationship,” she says. “I think I underestimated, going into the challenge, how special that is, quite magical. I’m now totally in love with horses.” Sexism in cycling has been grabbing headlines recently, with Victoria speaking out in support of her former teammate Jess causing rifts in the team. Now married to said coach Scott Varnish (who said British cycling’s technical director Shane Sutton Gardner and retired from cycling, you can visibly see the told her to “go and have a baby”). Thankfully, it’s not something excitement (and possibly relief) in Victoria. Victoria has experienced in horse racing. This year, she amazed everyone again by becoming a “The great thing about equestrian sport is that, because jockey, riding in the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham in there’s a horse involved, there’s not necessarily an age or gender March and outperforming many pundit’s expectations by discrimination going on. You can have a 60-year-old female in the finishing fifth. team and you can have a 20-year-old man in the team and they’re “I had a lot of help and support in order to get to competing on a level playing field, that’s what’s really beautiful Cheltenham. It has taught me a lot. I have fallen in love about equestrian sport.” with a completely new sport and I feel very lucky to have What’s next for the ambitious horse lover? a second chance,” she says. “The biggest thing it’s taught “OK, answers on a postcard! I’m not quite sure. I’m going to me though, doing it in such a short time frame [Victoria carry on racing until the end of the season. I’d like a new challenge trained for just a year], is the fact that a lot of it is to do to be honest. I quite like the feeling of having something to work with courage. Everybody has access to courage, that’s the towards, standing on the edge going: ‘Can I? Can’t I? I can.’ It’s a really cool thing. I would really like to encourage young good feeling.” people to be more courageous.”
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31/05/2016 12:44
a good sport Olympic cyclist-turned-jockey Victoria Pendleton is now an ambassador for the Laureus Sport For Good foundation. We catch up with her at the launch of the new IWC Portofino watch B y L o r n a D a vi e s
“I
was incredibly shy growing up,” says British world and Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton. “The only time I got thrown out of class was because I refused to read out loud. I was too afraid of stumbling over my words in front of my peers.” It’s an almost astonishing admission from the gold medalist. She’s very confident, warm and open. “You can ask me anything, about anything,” she tells the small group of journalists, a very rare (and refreshing) statement from an interviewee.
Two wheels were a foregone conclusion for Victoria, with her father Max a British national grass-track cycling champion. Born in Bedfordshire in 1980, she rode a bike “at the same time as being able to walk”. She’s spoken before about her father cycling away from her contributing to her fear of failure (and probably her talent for sprints). “Sport was the one thing that allowed me to express myself,” Victoria says. “The process of sport breaks barriers. You get given a set of rules, and everybody can be included in that, and everything can be adapted to include everybody as well, which is really special.” Victoria studied Sport and Exercise Science at Northumbria University, taking home three silver medals at the British National Track Championships while she was a student in 2001. Countless titles and achievements followed, including becoming the first British woman to win a cycling gold in four decades at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2005; winning golds at the Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics; and of course her swansong world record team sprint and gold in the Kerin at the 2012 London Olympics. In between was a somewhat tumultuous time of falling in love with one of her coaches (seen as unprofessional in the sport),
| 61
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s t y le
Inspiring young people is on Victoria’s mind. We’re at IWC Schaffhausen on Bond Street to celebrate her becoming a Sport for Good Ambassador for Laureus, and the launch of the Portofino Automatic Moon Phase 37 Edition watch. “I feel very proud to be an ambassador – I didn’t think they’d ask me,” a typically modest Victoria says. “You feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work within sport because it’s a rare and unique opportunity. There are only very few people who get to make a career out of it so I have always felt very blessed. I know full well that there are a lot of people around the world who don’t have anywhere near the “The process of sport opportunities, upbringing and support breaks barriers. You get that I have received, so it’s nice to be able given a set of rules, and to help and to know it is going to make a difference.” everything can be adapted The watch is limited to 1,500 worldwide to include everybody, and has a special design. IWC holds an which is really special” annual drawing competition for children and adolescents, which this year was won by 16-year-old Eleni Partakki from Cyprus. Eleni is a participant from PeacePlayers International Cyprus, a project that encourages Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot boys and girls living in the divided communities of Cyprus to play basketball together. Eleni’s design is engraved on the back of the watch. Victoria joins more than 180 fellow ambassadors for Laureus Victoria Pendleton Sport for Good around the world. sporting the IWC Portofino Automatic She’s full of enthusiasm and energy, skills that certainly would Moon Phase 37 have helped her Cheltenham success. Switching saddles seems Edition watch a daunting task, and Victoria says the mental pressures were challenging. “You’ve got to overcome the fact that you’ve got a 600-ish kilo animal who has a brain and you’re putting your faith in him or her and they’re putting their faith in you. That’s a unique relationship,” she says. “I think I underestimated, going into the challenge, how special that is, quite magical. I’m now totally in love with horses.” Sexism in cycling has been grabbing headlines recently, with Victoria speaking out in support of her former teammate Jess causing rifts in the team. Now married to said coach Scott Varnish (who said British cycling’s technical director Shane Sutton Gardner and retired from cycling, you can visibly see the told her to “go and have a baby”). Thankfully, it’s not something excitement (and possibly relief) in Victoria. Victoria has experienced in horse racing. This year, she amazed everyone again by becoming a “The great thing about equestrian sport is that, because jockey, riding in the Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham in there’s a horse involved, there’s not necessarily an age or gender March and outperforming many pundit’s expectations by discrimination going on. You can have a 60-year-old female in the finishing fifth. team and you can have a 20-year-old man in the team and they’re “I had a lot of help and support in order to get to competing on a level playing field, that’s what’s really beautiful Cheltenham. It has taught me a lot. I have fallen in love about equestrian sport.” with a completely new sport and I feel very lucky to have What’s next for the ambitious horse lover? a second chance,” she says. “The biggest thing it’s taught “OK, answers on a postcard! I’m not quite sure. I’m going to me though, doing it in such a short time frame [Victoria carry on racing until the end of the season. I’d like a new challenge trained for just a year], is the fact that a lot of it is to do to be honest. I quite like the feeling of having something to work with courage. Everybody has access to courage, that’s the towards, standing on the edge going: ‘Can I? Can’t I? I can.’ It’s a really cool thing. I would really like to encourage young good feeling.” people to be more courageous.”
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