Examining Gender in Cycling Cultures: Insights and Methods

My observations and research illustrate a dearth of Black-British female (of African, African-Caribbean, or Asian origins) cycling athletes who have progressed to become national champions or have represented Great Britain and become European or World Champions. I present the four female cyclists who have been able to make this progression at Junior and Senior levels in the sport. However, I will question their sparsity in comparison to the more numerous and well known Black-British females athletes in elite Athletics. These female athletes have been extremely successful as national, European, World and Olympic champions representing Great Britain. National accolades have been bestowed upon them such as Damehoods, BBC TV Sports Personality of the Year Awards, MBEs, OBEs and CBEs. Why have there been hardly any Black-British female elite road and track cyclists gracing the sport as icons in a similar way to Athletics? I will showcase the life-history narrative of one Black-British cycling champion from my research and recent exhibition: Made in Britain – Uncovering the Life Histories of Black-British Champions in Cycling.’ This will provide an insight to her entry into the sport; her successes; her barriers; and where the haemorrhage seems to have occurred to her potentially successful career as an elite cyclist, future role-model and inspiration.