Joanna Rowsell

Joanna Katie Rowsell MBE (born 5 December 1988^[3]) is a retired English cyclist on the Great Britain Cycling Team who competed on track and road.

Joanna Rowsell
MBE

Rowsell in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Joanna Rowsell [1]
Born	(1988-12-05) 5 December 1988 (age 36) Carshalton, Greater London, England
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Amateur team
2005–2006	VC Londres
Professional teams
2007-2017	Global Racing[2]
2008	Team Halfords Bikehut
2009	100% ME
2011–2012	Horizon Fitness RT[2]
2013–2014	Wiggle–Honda
2015–2017	Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 2012 London Team pursuit 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team pursuit World Championships 2008 Manchester Team Pursuit 2009 Pruszków Team Pursuit 2012 Melbourne Team pursuit 2014 Cali Team pursuit 2014 Cali Individual Pursuit 2015 Yvelines Team Pursuit 2010 Ballerup Team Pursuit 2016 London Team pursuit U23 European Track Championships 2008 Pruszków Team Pursuit 2008 Pruszków Individual Pursuit European Track Championships 2011 Apeldoorn Team Pursuit 2013 Apeldoorn Team Pursuit 2014 Guadeloupe Team Pursuit 2015 Grenchen Team pursuit Representing  England Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Individual Pursuit

Her greatest successes were the gold medals won in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics as well as five World Championship titles, four in the team pursuit (2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014) plus one in the individual pursuit at the 2014 World Championships.^[4]

She currently holds the World Record in the 3 km team pursuit.

Rowsell first came to national prominence as a winner of junior national competitions in 2005/2006.

Early life

Rowsell was born in Carshalton in the London Borough of Sutton. She attended Cuddington Croft Primary School from 1993 to 2000 and Nonsuch High School for Girls from 2000 to 2007.

She competed for Sutton in the London Youth Games.

Career

Rowsell was picked up by British Cycling's Talent Team programme in 2004, after being tested at her school.^[5] 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.

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 senior, 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.^[6] She also continued to compete on the track, winning her first World Title at the 2008 World Championships in Manchester as part of the women's pursuit team.^[7]

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 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

Winning gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics

In 2013, Rowsell broke her collarbone at the London cycling festival but, five weeks later, after an operation and training on a Wattbike with a pillow on the bars, she won the Women's Pursuit on the track at the International Belgian Open in Ghent.^[10]

In September 2014 Rowsell announced that she would be leaving the Wiggle-Honda team and joining the Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International squad on a two-year deal from 2015.^[11] In 2016, Rowsell won a gold medal in the Team Pursuit at the Rio Olympics.

On 14 March 2017, Rowsell announced that she was retiring from the sport. "The decision to step away has been the hardest I've ever had to make," she said. "I believe I have more to offer the world."^[12][13]

Personal life

Rowsell has alopecia areata, a condition resulting in hair loss.^[14][15]

She is a descendant of the Swiss inventor Jean Samuel Pauly.^[16]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling.^[17]

Her younger brother Erick Rowsell is a road racing cyclist.^[18]

Rowsell married Daniel Shand in July 2015^[19] and then competed as Joanna Rowsell Shand. The marriage ended in divorce in 2020.

After retirement, she studied human biology at Manchester Metropolitan University,^[20] before becoming a medical student at St. George's Hospital Medical School in 2020.^[21][22]

Major results

2005

1st Individual pursuit, National Junior Track Championships

2006

1st Individual pursuit, National Junior Track Championships

1st National Women's Road Race Series

3rd National Road Race Championships

2007

2nd National Criterium Championships

National Track Championships

3rd Individual pursuit

3rd Points race

2008

1st Team pursuit, UCI Track World Championships

UCI Track Cycling World Cup

1st Team pursuit – Manchester

1st Team pursuit – Melbourne

1st Individual pursuit – Melbourne

3rd Individual pursuit – Manchester

1st National Criterium Championships

National Road Championships

1st Under–23

3rd Senior

UEC European U23 Track Championships

1st Team Pursuit (with Lizzie Armistead and Katie Colclough)

3rd Individual Pursuit

2009

1st Team pursuit, UCI Track World Championships

08–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup

1st Team pursuit – Copenhagen

3rd Individual pursuit – Copenhagen

09–10 UCI Track World Cup

1st Team pursuit – Manchester

2nd Team pursuit – Melbourne

2010

3rd National Criterium Championships

2011

1st Team pursuit, UEC European Track Championships

1st Team pursuit, UCI Track World Cup

National Track Championships

1st Individual pursuit

1st Team pursuit

3rd Points race

2012

1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games

1st Team pursuit, UCI Track World Championships

UCI Track World Cup

1st Team pursuit

1st Individual pursuit

2013

1st Team pursuit, UEC European Track Championships

1st Individual Pursuit, International Belgian Open

1st National Time Trial Championships

2014

UCI Track World Championships

1st Team pursuit

1st Individual pursuit

1st Individual pursuit, Commonwealth Games

1st Team pursuit, UEC European Track Championships

National Track Championships

1st Team pursuit

3rd Individual pursuit

2015

1st Team pursuit, UEC European Track Championships

1st Individual Pursuit, Revolution – Round 1, Derby

1st Team pursuit, National Track Championships

1st Stage 2 Tour of the Reservoir

2nd Team pursuit, UCI Track World Championships

2016

1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games

See also

• 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes