Jessica Varnish
 Varnish at the 2015 UEC European Track Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jessica Varnish |
| Nickname | Jess |
| Born |
19 November 1990 Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, UK |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[1] |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb; 10.6 st)[1] |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Track |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Sprinter |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 2006 | Halesowen AC&C |
Medal record
| |
|
Infobox last updated on 26 February 2014 | |
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Jessica "Jess" Varnish (born 19 November 1990) is a British track cyclist. Varnish is part of the reigning world record holding European team sprint champions and is a bronze medalist at the World Championships for the 500 metres.
Biography
Jessica Varnish was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire on 19 November 1990, the daughter of James "Jim" Varnish, a keen cyclist. She attended South Bromsgrove High School.[2]
At the age of 14, Varnish competed unofficially at the 2006 Junior World Championships in Belgium. She took a second off the British 500m standing start record, setting a new time of 37.1 seconds.[3]
She made her GB Cycling debut at the Austrian Junior International in January 2006. She became a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme whilst still a junior.[4] Being just 17 at the time, Varnish was selected for the programme a year ahead of the rest of her age group, demonstrating British Cycling's belief in her potential.
Her first performance at senior level was in the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester.[5]
In March 2009, Varnish was awarded the "junior female sports personality of the year" trophy at the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards.[6]
Virgin Trains Pendolino 390027 was named after her on 29 June 2011.[7]
On 18 February, Varnish competed at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the new Olympic Velodrome. Along with her team-mate Victoria Pendleton, they broke the world record of the women's team sprint taking gold.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Varnish and Pendleton broke the world record in the qualifying stages of the team sprint before being relegated in the semi-finals.[8]
In April 2016 The Daily Telegraph reported that Varnish's Olympic Podium Programme contract with British Cycling had not been renewed, with Performance Director Shane Sutton stating that the decision was due to Varnish's performances over the previous three years, and denying that it was related to comments she had made in interviews at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships which were critical of the selections that had been made for the women's team sprint squad in their qualifying campaign for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which was ultimately unsuccessful.[9] Varnish claimed in the two year Olympic qualifying period she had gained more qualifying points than any other British cyclist, in the team sprint she had consistently performed in the world top 5 and also qualified for the Olympic places in individual sprint and Keirin.[10] In a subsequent interview with the Daily Mail, Varnish said that Sutton had made sexist comments when discussing the non-renewal of her contract, including telling her that she was "too old", that she should "go have a baby", and a "long list" of remarks about her body shape: in response British Cycling issued a statement indicating that they would contact Varnish to give her the opportunity to discuss these allegations in full.[11]
Palmarès
Track
- 2005
- 1st
sprint, British National Track Championships – U16 - 2nd 500m TT, British National Track Championships – U16
- 2nd Scratch race, British National Track Championships – U16
- 2006
- 1st sprint, British National Track Championships – U16
- 2nd 500m TT, British National Track Championships – U16
- 2nd Scratch race, British National Track Championships – U16
- 2007
- 1st
keirin, 2007 European Track Championships – Junior - 1st sprint, British National Track Championships – Junior
- 2nd 500m TT, 2007 European Track Championships – Junior
- 2nd Individual Sprint, UCI Junior Track World Championships
- 2nd 500m TT, British National Track Championships – Junior
- 3rd 500m TT, British National Track Championships – Senior
- 3rd Individual Sprint, British National Track Championships – Senior
- 2008
- 1st keirin, 2008 European Track Championships – Junior
- 1st 500m TT, 2008 European Track Championships – Junior
- 1st 500m TT, British National Track Championships – Junior
- 1st sprint, British National Track Championships – Junior
- 1st Team Sprint, round 1, 2008–2009 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Manchester (with Anna Blyth)
- 2nd British National Team Sprint Championships (with Helen Scott)
- 3rd Keirin, British National Track Championships – Senior
- 3rd Individual Sprint, 2008 European Track Championships – Junior
- 2011
- 1st 500m TT, 2011 British National Track Championships – Senior
- 1st Team Sprint, 2011 European Track Championships (with Victoria Pendleton)
- 1st 500m TT, 2011 European Track Championships – U23
- 1st Team Sprint, 2011 European Track Championships – U23 (with Becky James)
- 3rd sprint, 2011 European Track Championships – U23
- 2012
- 1st Team sprint, round 4, 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, London (with Victoria Pendleton)
- 1st Team sprint, round 1, 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali (with Becky James)
- 1st Team sprint, round 2, 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Glasgow (with Becky James)
- 2nd Individual Sprint, round 2, 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Glasgow
- 3rd Individual Sprint, round 1, 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali
- 2013
- 1st 500m TT, British National Track Championships
- 1st Team Sprint, British National Track Championships
- 1st Individual Sprint, British National Track Championships
- 1st Keirin, British National Track Championships
- 1st Revolution Series Manchester (Individual Sprint)
- 2nd Revolution Series Manchester (Keirin)
- 3rd Individual Sprint, 2013 European Track Championships
- 3rd Team sprint, 2013 European Track Championships (with Becky James)
- 3rd Cottbus Individual Sprint
- 2014
- 1st 500m TT, British National Track Championships
- 1st Individual Sprint, British National Track Championships
- 1st Team sprint, British National Track Championships (with Dannielle Khan)[12]
- 1st Keirin, British National Track Championships[13]
- 1st Roubaix (Team Sprint)
- 3rdUCI Track World Championships (Team Sprint), with Becky James)[14]
- 3rd Commonwealth Games (Individual Sprint)
- 3rd Cottbus Individual Sprint
- 2015
- 1st British National Team Sprint Championships (with Katy Marchant)[15]
- 3rd Keirin, British National Track Championships[16]
References
- 1 2 "Jess Varnish". You Go 4 It. Nottingham City Council. 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
- ↑ "Jess Varnish : Focused on a Golden Future". Velodrome.org.uk. 2006/2007. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Varnish shows her extra class". Worcester News. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ↑ "Jessica Varnish Bio". British Cycling. Archived from the original on 7 May 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ↑ Andrew Canning (6 January 2009). "Jessica Varnish: Rider Profile". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ↑ "Jess shines once more at awards". Droitwich Spa Advertiser. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ↑ cyclist is latest athlete to name a virgin pendolino train
- ↑ Jessica Varnish: I will never watch nightmare moment when my London Olympic dream was shattered. www.telegraph.co.uk. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ↑ Cary, Tom (19 April 2016). "British Cycling drops Jess Varnish from Olympic programme on 'performance grounds' and denies it is payback for criticism". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Jess Varnish targets return to GB squad for Rio". bbc.co.uk. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ↑ "Jess Varnish: British Cycling to contact sprinter over 'go have a baby' claim.". bbc.co.uk. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ↑ "National Track Championships: Varnish & Trott among winners". bbc.co.uk. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ "National Track Championships: Four golds for Varnish & Skinner". bbc.co.uk. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ↑ "Track Cycling Worlds 2014: GB women win bronze as men toil". bbc.co.uk. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ↑ "British National Track Championships 25th–27th September 2015: Results – Team Female" (PDF). British Cycling. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ "British National Track Championship 25th–27th September 2015: Communiqué No 049: Category Female: Event Keirin: Round Final Result" (PDF). British Cycling. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jessica Varnish. |
- Jessica Varnish profile at Cycling Archives