BRITAIN?S Olympic hopefuls Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade were today named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year and Young Sportswoman of the Year respectively.
The awards were announced at the 2007 Sportswomen of the Year Awards held at Lord?s Cricket Ground in London. Pendleton's 2007 achievements have already been recognised by the British Olympic Association, who awarded her the trophy for Olympic Athlete of the Year.
Reade's track world title came when she joined forces with Pendleton to compete in the first ever women's team sprint. It was Reade's first ever track race, but it didn't show as the pair won the two lap race relatively comfortably.
Pendleton then went on to win the sprint and the keirin world titles with a domination not seen since France's Felice Ballanger ruled the women's sprint events in the late 1990's. Pendleton was in such good form that her coaches at British Cycling believed she could also have won the women's 500m time trial had there not been a clash on the program.
Reade's second world title of the year came for her on more familiar ground, when the 19-year-old from Crewe won her first senior BMX world title in Canada this July, beating her nearest rival by over a second.
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