I was told to go have a baby, alleges axed cyclist

Track cyclist Jess Varnish has alleged she was told to “go and have a baby” by British Cycling’s technical director, Shane Sutton, when she was dropped from the Olympic programme.

Varnish was told last month that her contract on the Olympic podium programme would not be renewed after her failure to qualify for the Olympic Games in the women’s team sprint.

Varnish had publicly criticised Sutton and British Cycling’s head coach, Iain Dyer, in the wake of that failure. British Cycling has insisted the decision to drop Varnish was made on performance grounds but the 25-year-old has claimed in the Daily Mail that Sutton told her she was “too old”. Sutton has denied making the comments.

According to Varnish, she went to British Cycling’s base at the Manchester Velodrome to collect her belongings after her contract was not renewed and asked to see the performance data which had led to her being dropped.

“I saw Shane and Iain and asked if I could have some of the [performance] information,” she said. “They couldn’t give it to me and said I’d been on the programme too long, that I was too old at the age of 25. Shane said that I should just move on and go and have a baby.”

Varnish claimed there was a macho culture within British Cycling. She said: “After 2012 I was told that, “with an ass like mine I couldn’t change position within the team sprint”.