Jessica Varnish

Jessica Varnish (born 19 November 1990) is a British former track cyclist. Varnish was part of the team sprint line-up who set a new world record at the 2014 European Track Championships and is a multiple medallist at the World Championships.

Jessica Varnish was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire on 19 November 1990, and attended South Bromsgrove High School.

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 GB Cycling debut at the Austrian Junior International in January 2006. She became a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme whilst still a junior.

Her first performance at senior level was in the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester. In March 2009, Varnish was awarded the junior female sports personality of the year trophy at the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards. Virgin Trains West Coast named its Pendolino train 390027 after her on 29 June 2011.

On 18 February 2012, Varnish competed at the 2011-12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup event in London. Racing with her team-mate Victoria Pendleton, the pairing broke the world record for the women's team sprint in 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. At the 2013 British National Track Championships, Varnish won four titles, triumphing in the 500 m time trial, sprint, team sprint and keirin disciplines. The following year, Varnish successfully defended all four titles.

In April 2016 The Daily Telegraph reported that Varnish's Olympic Podium Programme contract with British Cycling had not been renewed, with Performance Director Shane Sutton stating that the decision was due to Varnish's performances over the previous three years, and denying that it was related to comments she had made in interviews at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships which were critical of the selections that had been made for the women's team sprint squad in their qualifying campaign for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which was ultimately unsuccessful. Varnish pointed out that in the two-year Olympic qualifying period she had gained more qualifying points than any other British cyclist, in the team sprint she had consistently performed in the world top five and also qualified for the Olympic places in the individual sprint and keirin.

Varnish made allegations that Sutton had made sexist comments when discussing the non-renewal of her contract. In April 2016, Sutton was suspended by British Cycling and he subsequently resigned. Following an in-house investigation, Sutton was found guilty of one charge – using sexist language towards Varnish. In 2019, Varnish lost an employment tribunal in which she argued that she was an employee of British Cycling or UK Sport. Her appeal the following year was also unsuccessful and reportedly prevented her from potentially suing British Cycling and UK Sport for unfair dismissal.

• Jessica Varnish at Cycling Archives (archive)