Champ's debt to mentor

Mar 30 2008 by Eleanor Gregson, Sunday Sun

A NORTH man who stopped champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton from giving up the sport has talked of his pride after she landed her latest world title.

Pendleton has frequently spoken of the debt she owes to Malcolm Dix of the charity Sport Newcastle.

While it gave cash help, he provided moral support . . . assuring her she was destined for great things.

Malcolm, 65, said he couldn’t wait to congratulate the former University of Northumbria student on her double gold medal win at the track cycling World Championships in Manchester yesterday.

He said: “I am extremely proud of her latest win and it’s wonderful that she remembers the associations that supported her four years ago.

“The starting point of her career was here in the North and now she is becoming a bit of an icon.

“It’s lovely to see kids who started with us get to the stage where they become world champions. It reflects so well on the area.”

Pendleton, 27, was given a scholarship to train with Sport Newcastle four years ago while she completed her degree in sport and exercise science.

She said: “Without the encouragement I received I may never have realised my potential”.

Pendleton was already a triple world champion going into the event. Her victories in the team and individual sprints now take her world titles to five.

Malcolm added: “It gives me great personal pride to see her where she is now because at one time she was thinking of giving up.

“I told her at the time that she could do very well and that she should continue.

“She has always said that without our support she wouldn’t have achieved what she has done.”

Pendleton, born in Bedfordshire, became the third British woman world cycling champion in 40 years when she won at the 2005 World Championships in Los Angeles.

If she wins gold at the Beijing Olympics this year, Malcolm said: “I think we will hold a civic reception for her here in Newcastle.”