Shanaze Reade, 23, Team GB
Cycling - BMX
At 17 Shanaze became Britain’s number one female rider, having picked up the sport age 10, when she bought her first BMX for £1.
The sole women’s BMX representative for GB at Beijing in 2008, Shanaze was favourite for the gold but a crash in the final dashed her hopes of a medal. She’s admitted she has a love/hate relationship with the Olympics, but with the help of a great support network, she’s pulled
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more Shanaze Reade, 23, Team GB
Cycling - BMX
At 17 Shanaze became Britain’s number one female rider, having picked up the sport age 10, when she bought her first BMX for £1.
The sole women’s BMX representative for GB at Beijing in 2008, Shanaze was favourite for the gold but a crash in the final dashed her hopes of a medal. She’s admitted she has a love/hate relationship with the Olympics, but with the help of a great support network, she’s pulled herself back up from the disappointment and has thrown all her focus into the London Games.
Shanaze built up her skills and strength racing against men (where she usually finished top three) and just like Zoe Smith, she’s never one to shy away from speaking her mind. She says of the experience, “I’m usually always top three when racing the guys. I have been racing them now for two years and I was almost the national champion last year though had to settle for the number two spot. The boys in BMX are all cool, some spit their dummies out but I just let them get on with it! It's really quite fun to watch when I kick their booties.”
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