Name: Shanaze Reade
Event: BMX
Date of Birth: 23/09/88 (age 23)
Career Highlight: 3x UCI BMX World Champion
Did you know? Reade used to compete in the 100m and the shot put before turning to BMX.
For Reade London 2012 is a shot at retribution – a chance to pick up that gold medal that everyone expected her to bring back from Beijing four years ago.
For most BMX recalls memories of childhood and a bit of post-school fun, but for the likes of Shanaze Reade, it is far more serious.
Reade has won the BMX Word Championships three times, most recently in 2010. She held the title going into the 2008 Olympic event, and was being lauded as a gold medal certainty, before her dreams quite literally came crashing down when she fell at the final berm, ruining her medal chances.
This was all the more gutting for Shanaze as she had decided against competing in her other event, the team spring, at which she has won world gold alongside Victoria Pendleton, to focus solely of ensuring victory in the BMX.
She will not hold the favourites tag this time around, despite competing on home soil. She stands a great medal chance, but will face strong completion from French pair Magalie Pottier and Eva Allioud, who placed first and second respectively in this year’s World Championships. Mariana Pajon, 2011 Wold Champion and Columbian flag-bearer will also be up around the top, so Reade will certainly be at the top of her game if she is to fulfil her Olympic dreams this time around.