Joanna Rowsell

Joanna Rowsell MBE

Rowsell in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Joanna Rowsell MBE
Born	(1988-12-05) 5 December 1988 England United Kingdom
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Team information
Current team	Wiggle Honda
Discipline	Road and track
Role	Rider
Amateur team(s)
2005–2006	VC Londres
Professional team(s)
2007 2008 2009 2011-2012 2013–	Global Racing[1] Team Halfords Bikehut 100% ME Horizon Fitness RT[1] Wiggle-Honda
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain Track cycling Olympic Games Gold 2012 London Team pursuit World Championships Gold 2012 Melbourne Team pursuit Gold 2009 Pruszków Team Pursuit Gold 2008 Manchester Team Pursuit Silver 2010 Ballerup Team Pursuit U23 European Track Championships Gold 2008 Pruszków Team Pursuit Bronze 2008 Pruszków Individual Pursuit European Track Championships Gold 2011 Apeldoorn Team Pursuit Gold 2013 Apeldoorn Team Pursuit
Infobox last updated on 4 August 2012

Joanna Katie Rowsell MBE (born 5 December 1988 in Sutton^[2]) is an English cyclist on the Great Britain Cycling Team who competes on track and road.

Rowsell first came to national prominence as a winner of junior national competitions in 2005/2006, while her biggest successes to date are the gold medals won in the women's team pursuit at the 2008, 2009 and 2012 World Championships and the London 2012 Olympics.

Early life

Rowsell was born in Carshalton, in the London Borough of Sutton. She competed for Sutton in the London Youth Games.

She attended Cuddington Croft Primary School from 1993 to 2000 and Nonsuch High School for Girls from 2000 to 2007.

Career

Rowsell was picked up by British Cycling's Talent Team programme in 2004, after being tested at her school.^[3] Her first major wins came in 2005 and 2006. As a junior, she won the British National Track Championships pursuit in both these years, whilst in senior competition on the road she won the 2006 British National Women's Series competition. She represented the UK at the European and World Junior Track and Road Championships in these years.^[4] In 2006 she also finished third in the British National Championship and subsequently signed for the professional team Global Racing for the 2007 season. In her first year as a professional, she finished third in the 3 km pursuit and the points race at the National Track Championships. On the road, she finished second in the British National Circuit Race Championships.

2008 saw Rowsell join the new Nicole Cooke-led Team Halfords Bikehut.^[5] She also continued to compete on the track, winning a gold medal at the 2008 World Championships in Manchester as part of the women's pursuit team.^[6]

In 2012, she won in preparation for the Olympics at the Track Cycling World Cup in London both the team pursuit and the individual pursuit in February. Rowsell was a member of the team pursuit squad alongside Dani King and Laura Trott, when they won the team pursuit event and set a new world record at the 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in London. They broke the record again at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Rowsell won a gold medal for the team pursuit alongside King and Trott.^[7] Having already set world record times in both the qualifying and semi-finals in this event, the team also went on to set a new world record time of 3:14.051 in the final.^[8]

In 2013, Rowsell broke her collarbone at the London cycling festival but, five weeks later, after an operation and training on the Wattbike with pillow on the bars, she was winning the Women's Pursuit on the track at the International Belgian Open in Ghent.^[9]

Personal life

Rowsell has alopecia areata, a condition resulting in hair loss.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Rowsell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling.^[14]

Rowsell's younger brother Erick Rowsell is a road racing cyclist.^[15]

Palmarès

See also

• 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joanna Rowsell.

External links

• New Year Honours list: Stars of London 2012 given recognition
• BBC Wales - Raise Your Game - Joanna Rowsell
• BBC Sport: Generation 2012: Joanna Rowsell
• Cycling Weekly - Joanna Rowsell Rider Profile