Victoria Pendleton

Progress towards 2012 I feel like my progress is going really well. Over the last year I have been working on development so that this year I could push forward more. I did that because of injuries I felt coming on. I think that's to do with age – I'm not ancient but full-time exercise and weight training definitely does take its toll, and it's not as easy as it was four years ago. As you get older you need to start being a little bit more careful, a little bit smarter than before and fortunately I've got enough intelligent people around me to help out with that. We're always trying to be forward-thinking and not just stick to what we've done before. I think I'm in a really good place at the moment. Although my performances in the last year have suffered as a result of these changes to my training routine, I do think it was the right thing to do – you can't always be pushing your body to its limits. I don't want to sound like I'm over-justifying my lack of gold medals last year but I'm sticking to my guns. Having confidence in your own plan is the most important thing and I truly believe that I've got the potential to be better than in 2008. Ultimately I've got to prove this and come up with the goods but I still feel as though there are areas of my performance which I can develop and that is my aim. The 2012 Olympics are going to be a tremendous experience and I'm very confident of going to the Olympics and hopefully being on the podium at least once. Apart from knowing how fantastic the new arena is I can't anticipate what difference there will be with performing in front of a home crowd – I just know it will be a fantastic experience and that performing well on home turf means more to me than anything else in the world. Cyclists have always been really well supported by our fans and family so hopefully the crowd support will be even greater than usual in London. There is a lot of hope and expectation for me to do well but really it means more to me than anyone else. Biography Born 24 September 1980, Stotfold, Bedfordshire Educated University of Northumbria to do a degree in sport and exercise science Hobbies I love cooking – especially baking – and my favourite activity is taking my dogs for walks – they're amazing fun. I also enjoy arts and crafts – I really like dress-making, although I never have enough time for it. I'm also heavily involved with the Sky Ride initiative scheme, which aims to get 1m more people into regular cycling by the year 2013. I see it as my duty as a GB athlete to help the wider community and to get more people interested in sport. If I wasn't an athlete I think I wouldn't mind being a personal trainer – I genuinely love being in the gym Favourite band Foo Fighters without a doubt. Dave Grohl is the coolest man on earth and I have been lucky enough to meet him. Favourite film Gladiator – I love that film Favourite book I read lots of random different books – I don't think I have an actual favourite. The last book I read was either The Reluctant Mullah by Zagheer Afzal or The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Training Generally when I'm in full-time training I am in the gym three times a week, and I have four days on the track. In the gym I work on my strength and then on the track I do between four and 12 track efforts after a 10km warm-up following a motorcycle. I spend most of my time in between cycling on roads near home, followed by physio Key statistics 2005 World champs, USA – sprint gold 2006 World champs, France – sprint silver C'wealth, Melbourne, – sprint gold, 500m t-trial silver 2007 World champs, Spain – team sprint silver, sprint & keirin gold 2008 Olympics, Beijing – sprint gold World champs, UK – sprint, team sprint and keirin gold 2009 World champs, Poland – sprint gold, team sprint silver, 500m t-trial bronze 2010 World champs, Denmark – sprint gold, team sprint silver 2011 World champs, Netherlands – team sprint silver, sprint bronze Countdown to 2012 8-12 August 2011 European Masters Championships, Montichiari, Italy 9-15 October 2011 UCI World Masters Championships, Manchester April 2012 World Track Cycling Championships, Melbourne, Australia Records held 2006 Commonwealth record 200m t-trial, Melbourne – 11.275s 2007 National record 500m t-trial, Manchester – 34.070 2008 National record 200m t-trial, Manchester – 10.904 2008 Olympic record 200m t-trial, Beijing – 10.963 Venue Completed in February, the velodrome will have the capacity to seat up to 6,000 spectators In numbers 16 People each nation is qualified to submit into the Olympic Games, nine men and seven women 1 Olympic gold medal already belonging to Pendleton, her victory in the women's sprint in Beijing 8 Gold medals won by British cyclists at the 2008 Olympics, seven on the track and one on the road Victoria Pendleton is on the search for the nation's Perfect Hill to cycle down as part of this year's Sky Ride – a national campaign from Sky and British Cycling, which aims to help and inspire people, whatever their age or ability to get on their bikes and have fun. To nominate your Perfect Hill and find out about all the great ways you can get back on your bike this summer visit: www.goskyride.com