Rebecca Jayne Romero,
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(born 24 January 1980) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
sportswoman, a former World Champion and
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
silver medallist at
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...
, and a former World champion and an Olympic champion
track cyclist
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
History
Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...
.
Early life and education
Romero was born in
Carshalton
Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalto ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, of an English mother and Spanish father, and brought up in
Wallington, London where she attended
Wallington High School for Girls
Wallington High School for Girls is an all-girls selective grammar school in the London Borough of Sutton, England, specialising in STEM subjects and Languages.
Admissions
It is a grammar school, with Richard Booth as the Headmaster since Septem ...
. Her success in rowing and cycling has meant that she was funded as a full-time athlete since graduating from university.
Rowing
Romero has won world championships in both cycling and rowing; as a rower, she won a
silver medal at the
Athens 2004 Olympics in the
quadruple sculls, and the following year was part of the British crew that won the
2005 World Championships in the
quad scull
A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand.
R ...
s.
Suffering from a persistent back injury, Romero retired from rowing in 2006.
Cycling
Romero later took up track cycling, and made rapid progress in her new sport, specialising in track endurance events.
In December 2006, Romero won a silver medal in the pursuit at the UCI Track World Cup event in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
– her international cycling debut – losing out to fellow Briton
Wendy Houvenaghel
Wendy Louise Houvenaghel (née McLean; born 27 November 1974) is a Northern Irish former racing cyclist from Upperlands, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, riding on both the road and track, but specialising in the latter. She has represente ...
.
Romero won her first Cycling World Championships medal in March 2007 with silver in the 3 km pursuit. The following year, at the
2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, United Kingdom from 26 to 30 March 2008. Eighteen events were scheduled; the women's team pur ...
, held in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, she won the individual and, (with Houvenaghel and
Joanna Rowsell
Joanna Katie Rowsell MBE (born 5 December 1988) is a retired English cyclist on the Great Britain Cycling Team who competed on track and road.
Her greatest successes were the gold medals won in the women's team pursuit at the 2012 London Olym ...
), team pursuit events.
Beijing Olympics
She became the first British woman ever to compete in two different sports at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
when she rode in the
individual pursuit
The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track.
It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...
in Beijing. In winning the gold, she also became only the second woman of any country (after
Roswitha Krause of East Germany) to win a medal in two different sports at Summer Games.
Romero appeared nude on her bicycle in an advert for
Powerade
Powerade is a sports drink created, manufactured and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. Its primary competitor is Gatorade, owned by PepsiCo.
History
In 1988, Powerade became the official sports drink of the Olympics, alongside Aquarius, ano ...
sports drink in the run up to the
2008 Summer Olympics.
Romero was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.
Post-Beijing
Romero was expected to return to track cycling in October 2009 but did not return amid speculation that the individual pursuit would be dropped from the Olympic programme. It was announced in December 2009 that the event was to be dropped, meaning Romero was unable to defend her title at the
2012 Summer Olympics. She condemned the decision to drop the event as "ludicrous" but seemed set to make a further change of events by switching to the road time trial.
In August 2009 she attempted the 874-mile non-stop mixed tandem bicycle record attempt from
Land's End
Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
to
John O'Groats with
James Cracknell
James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List.
Biography
Cracknell began rowing whilst ...
but had to give up at more than half way due to a knee injury.
She planned to race in a
time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...
at
Levens, Cumbria
Levens is a village and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of the modern English county of Cumbria. It lies within the historic county of Westmorland. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,007, increasing at the 2011 c ...
on 13 August 2011. She also raced in the British Time Trial Championships on 4 September 2011 finishing 4th overall.
In October 2011 Romero announced that she was withdrawing from
British Cycling
British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...
's Olympic Programme and that she would not be competing in the 2012 Olympics. She subsequently confirmed that she would compete in the
Ironman 70.3 triathlon
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...
in
Mallorca and the
Ironman UK event in
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
in 2012 and the
2012 Ironman World Championship The 2012 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition held on October 13, 2012 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The championship won by Pete Jacobs of Australia and Leanda Cave of England. It was the 36th such Ironman Triathlon Wo ...
.
Romero has set up Romero Performance, a sports performance consultancy organisation, which launched in January 2013.
Achievements
Rowing
;
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
:
2004 –
Silver, Quadruple sculls (with
Frances Houghton
Frances Houghton MBE is a 5 time Olympic rower (2000–2016), 4 times World Champion and 3 times Olympic Silver medallist.
She now mentors elite athletes and works as a professional chef.
Early life
Houghton was born in Oxford, and started her ...
,
Debbie Flood
Deborah Kirsty Bruwer (née Flood; born 27 February 1980) is an English rower, noteworthy for winning silver medals in the quadruple sculls at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.
Biography
Flood was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and was a Gr ...
,
Alison Mowbray)
;
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
:2001 – 5th, Quadruple sculls
:2002 – 5th, Quadruple sculls
:2003 – 4th, Double sculls
:2005 – Gold, Quadruple sculls (with Katherine Grainger, Frances Houghton, Sarah Winkless)
;
U23 World Championships
:1999 – 4th, Single sculls
:2000 – Gold, Coxless pairs
Cycling
: Time Trial Champion (Cycling)
2006
:UCI Track World Cups: 2 Silver Medals (Moscow & Manchester)
:
2007 World Championships – Silver, 3 km Pursuit
: National 3 km Pursuit Champion (Cycling)
2007
:
2007–08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
The 2007–2008 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics was a multi race competition over a season of track cycling. The season began on 30 November 2007 and ended on 17 February 2008. The World Cup is organised by the UCI. The 2007–2008 se ...
:
Gold individual pursuit Copenhagen
:
2008 World Championships – Gold,
3 km Pursuit
:
2008 World Championships – Gold,
Team Pursuit
The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome.
Race format
Both men's and women's events are competed over ...
:
2008 Summer Olympics Gold, Individual Pursuit
: 4th British National Time Trial Championships (Cycling)
2011
See also
*
Leander Club
Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior t ...
(member)
References
External links
*
*
Profile onBritish Cycling
British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Rebecca
English people of Spanish descent
Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
English female rowers
English Olympic medallists
Olympic cyclists of Great Britain
Olympic rowers of Great Britain
Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain
Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
1980 births
Living people
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Olympic medalists in cycling
Olympic medalists in rowing
Alumni of the University of Surrey
People educated at Wallington High School for Girls
Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham
English female cyclists
People from Carshalton
UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women)
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Members of Leander Club
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain
English track cyclists
Alumni of Richmond upon Thames College