Victoria Pendleton: The saddle switch

From three time Olympic medallist to novice jockey, the road from bike track to horse-back for Victoria Pendleton has not been as simple as a switch of saddle. On Friday, Pendleton rode in the amateur jockey race of the season - Cheltenham's Foxhunter Chase, less than a year after she first mounted a horse.  Her story has been full of debate and controversy and this week the media has fixated on the Cheltenham race festival. Questions over whether she should be competing due to 'health and safety' reasons, to questions about her celebrity status over-shadowing the meeting have captured the eyes of the horse-racing world and beyond. Yet on Friday at 4:10pm the question that everyone was waiting for an answer to was "can she do it?".

Pendleton is no novice to racing, it is just what she is racing on that differs. Cycling since a young age, Pendleton rose to sporting fame in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics where she won Olympic sprint gold. Come London 2012 Olympics, Pendleton was the one to beat on the track and was given the nickname 'Queen Victoria' due to her victorious efforts at the Lee Valley Velopark. She came away with Olympic silver and gold medals, always knowing this would be where she retired from her cycling career. Her enjoyment had plummeted and she spoke afterwards about cleansing herself of everything related to her cycling career. She was determined to look forwards, not back. So when Betfair approached her asking if she wanted to become a licensed amateur jockey, it was an offer she was never going to turn down.

Very few people have the drive and determination to become a successful Olympian. Early morning training, travel to and from competition and a lifestyle that centres around being physically and psychologically fit. Yet with this mindset and athleticism, Pendleton was an example of the perfect person to take on the gruelling training and courage needed to be a jockey. The ultimate goal 12 months ago was for Pendleton to race at Cheltenham. Some regarded this as highly ambitious and very unlikely from someone so new to the sport. Yet in the lead up to the Cheltenham festival, as Pendleton started to become more prominent in races it was clear this original aim would be achieved. 

As the Cheltenham festival approached, headlines were unsurprisingly focused on Pendleton. Much of the media, public, people both in and outside of the horse racing world believed that she wasn't ready to take on the challenge. Jump jockeys can take over 10 years to reach where Pendleton had in one, an unbelievable achievement that some thought was only possible due to her celebrity status. That said, Pendleton had proved herself a worthy rider, winning her first race a month before at Wincanton with the favourite that day; Pacha du Polder. A good race to finish on ahead of Cheltenham.

Cheltenham, for most people, was not a case of whether Pendleton on Pacha du Polder could win, more a case of seeing how well she rode and where she could finish in this large field of more experienced riders. As Pendleton took to the ring, the swarms of paparazzi gathered around her. I, as I'm sure many others did, found myself anxiously wondering if this was all going to go horribly wrong. According to Channel 4 there were 90 extra TV crews there that day. Yes, it was Gold Cup day, the race of the meeting, however the lenses were all pointing towards one woman. There was a buzz of excitement on the Friday leading up to her race. Bookies took this opportunity to tap into the Pendleton market. Not only could punters bet on Pacha du Polder at a starting price of 16/1, many offered odds for whether she would even complete the course and where exactly in the field she would position. AP McCoy had no doubt she would finish the race, winning on the other hand was a whole other story. 

The 23 riders set off on the 3 mile 2 furlong race. Pendleton rode tentatively at the back of the field for the majority of the race, out of trouble but certainly not out of mind of the punters and paparazzi. As horses started to fall and pull up around her, Pendleton soon found herself tracking the favourite, a tactical move that may well have been pre-decided. With one fence left to jump there was an overwhelming sense of relief that she was still in the race and what's more, in a position she may look back on as 'I could have won that'.

Pendleton finished a remarkable 5th out of a field of 23 horses with some of the best amateur jockeys in the world riding them. She looked like she couldn't believe she had done it and been that close to placing. That in itself was an almighty win for Pendleton. In her interviews after she explained it as one of the "greatest achievements of her life", saying  to everyone how much she enjoys racing and how there isn't a better feeling than riding a horse. Her cycling career seem a lifetime ago, a past she has openly boxed away, despite her outstanding successes. However, with the limited time she is likely to have left as a jump jockey and her drive to want to succeed, as long as she stays in once piece this could be tremendous tale of guts, luck and determination. She is certainly not one to write off for the future.

Pendleton has silenced some of the critics for sure, whether she is accepted into the racing world as any other amateur jockey around would be is yet to be seen. However, you can be sure that Pendleton more than anyone else would like the tabloids to be turned onto her racing achievements, rather than questions over why she is there and whether she should be racing.

Opinions differ, controversy will remain, however there is no debate that what Pendleton has achieved in this last year is a phenomenal display of sporting excellence, and this certainly should be celebrated.

Lance Armstrong: The cheat and the questions we ask

In January 2013, live on TV, Lance Armstrong; cyclists' greatest became sports most unwanted athlete after admitting to one of the worlds biggest doping scandals. The anger, the upset, the backlash and the media turmoil that followed showed how one man could effect the thoughts, opinions and actions of others. There is no doubt that to hundreds and thousands of people, Armstrong was a role model - not just for what appeared to be his athletic greatness on a bike but his unbelievable recovery from cancer. It is this mix of hope and strength, yet poison and weakness that makes the story and this man so hard to understand. 

Armstrong was classified as winning the Tour de France a record-breaking 7 consecutive times; that was until, after years of speculation and tracking by officials, the US Anti-Doping Agency disqualified him for doping offences leading to a lifetime ban from cycling in 2012. Armstrong, rightly so, was additionally stripped of his race wins. It was decided by the cycling committee that these would not be redistributed to the worthy winner, which in itself, further strips those who performed and competed cleanly in those years of not just a medal, but of a lifetime goal. 

Cycling, in particular the Tour de France has never been short of drug and doping problems. It was this 'common factor' that Armstrong regularly referred to after admitting to his offence as a justification to his actions. Yet some athletes managed it, some managed to perform with their own body, through their own training and with no input from banned substances, so why couldn't he? 

Information about the fact it was not the actions of one man but more a whole team of people under Armstrong's control came out in the media following the revelations. For me, it showed how powerful, clever and manipulative Armstrong had been, but also that there were trained and professional people out there willing to put substances in athletes bodies, break rules and the sportsmanship of sport. Cycling along with other sports across the world have inputted strict and lengthily processes to stop the likes of Armstrong from ruining the race, games and competitive events for everyone else. Yet there is more to it than banning an athlete from their sport. The negative effects these media figures have is hard to quantify - their audiences often span generations, and so, does it teach those who aren't where they want to be in their career through training and hard work that there are other illegal options? Do scandals such as these take away from what sport should really be about?

There will always be conflicting views for both genders, of all ages in every sport for what the main purpose should be about. Is it competition, training and taking-part, or should it be win at all costs? The journey most professional athletes has to take is often filled with periods of triumph, defeat, injury and often questions; those of themselves, coaches and the media. There are often funding issues and sponsorship deals that come alongside competing. So was it these factors that spurred Armstrong on, was it his first tastes of victory that meant he wanted more, or was it his controlling personality that ultimately meant he couldn't stop until he had reached the top? 

If you have seen his interview with Oprah Winfrey where he admits to his lie, I think you will agree there was little compassion and regret in his voice. Two years later, 26th January 2015, Armstrong was interviewed again: "I'd change the man, not the decision to cheat". Take of this what you will. 

And so the question remains; will sport ever be drug free? 

Or is it more the questions that really come with this one: Are the punishments strong enough to deter those who think about cheating or re-offending following their bans? Is there enough evidence to show the physiological and psychological side-effects to an athlete from using drugs and doping in sport? Is there a rigorous enough process to cause athletes to worry about being caught and reconsider their actions? Finally, will there continue to be athletes who choose to live a sporting career on deceit and lies? I would personally answer ''No' to just one of these questions, why...because there is always someone out there who has to be the best. 

My final thought on Armstrong:

He Lived-Strong, Competed-Well, but Lied-Best.