Background
Jessica Varnish was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire on 19 November 1990, the daughter of James "Jim" Varnish, a keen cyclist.
Jessica Varnish was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire on 19 November 1990, the daughter of James "Jim" Varnish, a keen cyclist.
She attended South Bromsgrove High School.
Varnish is part of the reigning world record holding European team sprint champions and is a bronze medalist at the World Championships for the 500 metres. At the age of 14, Varnish competed unofficially at the 2006 Junior World Championships in Belgium. She took a second off the British 500m standing start record, setting a new time of 37.1 seconds.
She made her first appearance in Great Britain kit at the Austrian Junior International in January 2006.
Being just 17 at the time, Varnish was selected for the programme a year ahead of the rest of her age group, demonstrating British Cycling"s belief in her potential. Her first performance at senior level was in the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester.
Virgin Trains Pendolino 390027 was named after her on 29 June 2011. On 18 February, Varnish competed at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the new Olympic Velodrome.
Along with her team-mate Victoria Pendleton, they broke the world record of the women"s team sprint taking gold.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Varnish and Pendleton broke the world record in the qualifying stages of the team sprint before being relegated in the semi-finals.
She became a member of British Cycling"s Olympic Development Programme whilst still a junior.