Top 104 Quotes & Sayings by Victoria Pendleton

Even though I've won numerous titles and an Olympic gold medal, there are still so many faults in my performance that I can honestly hardly bear to watch the videos back.

I never really felt I had the same respect as my male team-mates. My opinion wasn't worth as much. I used to sit quietly in meetings and not say anything, as I knew my opinions would be disregarded. And that's after I had become Olympic champion and multiple world champion.

I'm someone who wears their heart on their sleeve.

We've all said, 'No, no, I couldn't do that... ' But actually, you could if you just went, 'You know what? I will... and I shall.' Once you realise that, it's quite wonderful.

We are all totally committed as elite athletes. To think that pushing people around and bullying them is the best way to get results out of them is just ludicrous.

A car is a killing machine. It's like waving a loaded gun. People don't realise how dangerous they are.

What the event will be like, being part of the Olympics and being in London, is too much to think about. You've no control over those things, so in a way, it's wasted energy to think of them.

The sprint is sometimes like a toss of a coin. Sometimes it's heads, and sometimes it's tails.

To be honest, after you've crossed the line at the Olympic Games, it is bedlam for the next, about, five or six hours. Media, press conference, dope control - you might get some food if you're lucky. You might see family if you're lucky.

I could scrape water off horses all day long. That would never get boring.

I beat myself up the whole time because I'm striving for something I'll basically never achieve. I portray this image of confidence, of arrogance, and it's not really me. I'm never satisfied, and I'm never content. It means I'm a bit of a mess some of the time.

It's a very unique feeling - to be that strong and unbreakable. But I'm working towards it.

I love it and really, really enjoy weight training. I love free weights. I find it really rewarding.

I've lost a lot more races than I've ever won... it's all part of the journey, really.

Although, you know it's been really nice to wear the Olympic kit, I'm looking forward to wearing non-sports, feminine clothes.

I've never pretended that I'm not female and vulnerable. To me, it's just being honest.

If you start lifting weights, you will expect to put weight on, as muscle is heavier than fat. But you have to look more at your body shape - you will get heavier - but you might get smaller and heavier at the same time, which is fine. And it doesn't really matter what you weigh as long as you are happy with your shape and size!

You look at a horse, and he's such a majestic, beautiful, powerful creature that you can't not be impressed. I love scraping the water off them when I wash them down because you go all round the contours, and its muscle and body, and you just think, 'Ooh, isn't this a magnificent creature.' You're touching it, and it's just solid, carved muscle.

As you get older, you get more accepting - although, if you asked me whose body I would want, I would say Jess Ennis's at the Olympics.

I was just, like, all I want to do is be really good at something. Really, really good at something, so people are vaguely impressed by me.

In tennis, you can have a bad set and still win. The part of track cycling that is difficult to find in other sports is that it's so final; there's no second chance if you make a mistake.

Maybe guys also have insecurities, but in a sporting arena, they keep it to themselves. I can't do that.

I normally don't listen to my instincts because I'm so full of doubt.

I am a self-critical perfectionist.

I've seen pictures of me, and I look mean and arrogant. That's how I felt on the inside. I think now, 'Is that really me?'

As you ride in a steeplechase, and you're on the horse, going quite fast, you think, 'That's quite a big fence...' But trust the horse, and don't give him any reason to doubt you.

I've always been like this - insecure - because I'm striving for something that can't be attained. I don't just want to be OK at this: I want to be the best at it, and I've never achieved that in my mind.

I was constantly being told I shouldn't talk so much about how I was feeling. They seemed to think I was giving too much away to my competitors. Showing signs of weakness. But I've always thought that was rubbish.

I've always been very open with my emotions. Actually, that's got me into a lot of trouble, too, in the past.

I used to feel very lonely on the team. The boys would all pair up.

One of the first coaches I worked with on the national team told me that I was too skinny, too puny, and had no natural acceleration. He said I'd be better off looking for another facet of sport to follow. That was a really, really bad moment. For a long time, I felt as if my dad was the only one who had faith in me.

I go round and round in circles, really, really fast, on a big wooden bowl.

I come from a cycling background. I happened to be good at it; the opportunities came my way. It wasn't something I necessarily searched to be involved in; it wasn't a dream. I just had an opportunity which you couldn't refuse.

As a kid growing up - I can see now - it didn't matter what I did, as long as it was something I could be really good at. Cycling just happened to be the opportunity that came along.

I turn left for a living.

I worried I was a boyish shape. I always thought I might grow some, but it never happened.

People say, 'Wow, you've achieved it all this year: two world championship wins and an Olympic gold medal.' And I think, 'Yeah, but how come I feel so unsatisfied and under pressure all over again?'

I just want to prove that I am really good at something. And I haven't quite done that yet - at least not to myself. I know I could ride so much better, with more ease, with more finesse. I feel I'm nowhere near as good as I should be.

I think I might become a pescatarian. I love sushi, couldn't give it up.

I always feel that most people out there who aren't sure if the gym is really for them aren't prepared to pay and find out.

You have to make the mistakes and have those failures in order to learn from them and grow and improve... But for me, the best way to combat any of that beating yourself up or overanalysing, the most important part is always to be prepared to the best of your ability.

The men couldn't understand how I could be so successful and so insecure at the same time - because it doesn't really exist in the same way in the male psyche.

As a teenager, I wanted to look like the early '90s curvy supermodels. Even in my early 20s, I always said as soon as I retired from cycling, I'd get a boob job.

I love watching Crufts on the television, especially the agility tests; I find them very impressive.

I genuinely enjoy the process of making colourful, delicious food. But I do allow myself an occasional piece of chocolate - today I had a pastry. If I fancy something, I'll have it.

People will put restrictions on your ability, on your aptitude, on your talent, on your character, and to be honest, it's just opinion. Don't let anyone put you in a box or draw your path for you.

I was put on a pony as a kid at some birthday party when you're all led around.

I've always been very fond of animals.

I think women are by nature competitive - secretly, privately within their own selves, on lots of different levels, on the way they look, perform.

I'm not the perfect model of what an athlete should be, mentally or physically.

I'm definitely capable of just enjoying riding my bike these days.

I've been taught by some of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country, and I've learnt that technique for weight training and cycling is very much more strength and less conditioning.

We don't talk about courage much in our everyday conversations, but I am comfortable with it now.

I like heels and make-up.

Eating vegetarian in the past would have been a really bad choice as an athlete. Impossible. Just being able to get the amount of protein in was a mission. You couldn't be picky. I feel quite liberated by the fact that I can now quite recklessly choose vegetarian food.

Oh, I am an angel, though sometimes I wish I was more of a devil.

I find it hard to act other than the way I feel.

There have been a lot of moments in my career when things haven't gone to plan.

Don't get me wrong: there are some fantastic people who work at British Cycling who kept me together, who were there when I was struggling with it all. They were walking the same tightrope in many ways, because if you do speak up, your days are numbered.

My best hair care tip would be, choose a range that is right for your hair structure. Working with Pantene has made me realize the importance of this, and it really does make a difference. I have quite thick hair, so I use the Smooth & Sleek range.