Just 24 hours earlier, she was left sobbing when a basic error shattered her hopes of gold. But an emotional Victoria Pendleton found redemption in the Velodrome last night, claiming the Olympic medal she had dreamt of for four years.
After the heartbreak of her effective disqualification on Thursday, one of the poster girls of London 2012 powered to a thrilling win in the keirin, to the delight of 6,000 frenzied home supporters.
Sweet: Victoria Pendleton sends a message of love to her boyfriend Scott Gardner from the podium after securing keirin gold
A hug and kiss were lavished on her fiancé Scott Gardner, a sports scientist whose relationship with her has caused scandal. That was because he was on the staff of the cycling team and such liaisons were frowned on.
The fallout – which saw him quit his job – was forgotten last night as Pendleton powered home to gold.
‘I can hardly believe it, I just had to focus really hard and the crowd was fantastic, it really helped me. I didn’t look for their race, I just raced my own and showed what I have got.’
With remarkable understatement she added: ‘When it is your moment, you just have to go.
Tears of joy: For double Olympic gold winner
Pendleton, it was an emotional moment when she received her medal in
front of her home crowd
Moment to treasure: Pendleton brushed off the disappointment of her team sprint disqualification to wrap up gold
Growing up in Bedfordshire, her father Max – a champion racer himself – first put her on a bike aged six.
When they went riding he would cycle far ahead forcing her to catch up. Pendleton, who has an elder sister Nicola, grew up competing with her twin brother Alex, which gave her a competitive edge.
While he was faster and better technically, he did not have her desire – honed and hardened from an early age under their father’s tutelage.
After graduating in sports science from Northumbria University, Pendleton became a full-time professional, winning her first national title in 1998.
Fourteen years later, she has said that this Olympics would be her last competition.
A champion in the Beijing Games of 2008, the charismatic, but sometimes moody, star of women’s cycling had been at fault on Thursday when she and Jess Varnish had been demoted for a technical error in the team sprint. Last night she was determined to make amends and there were no sign of nerves as the Velodrome, known as The Pringle because of its distinctive shape, became a cockpit of noise and excitement.
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