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After a Jam session, Wiggo wants to win his third gold
Kiran Randhawa in Beijing and Amar Singh18.08.08
Bradley Wiggins today rode to his second Olympic gold medal in Beijing inspired by the Jam and his three-year-old son.
The 28-year-old relaxed before the final of the team pursuit race by listening to the band, and its frontman Paul Weller, on his MP3 player - then took to the track and led the team to gold.
His wife Cathy watched from the stands, waving a Union Jack as the team smashed through the world record and destroyed the Danish team. He will bid for his third gold in the madison event tomorrow.
Mrs Wiggins said: "It was fantastic, but it is not over for us yet. We have still got another one to get. He wants three - that's the goal. I think they have an excellent chance in the madison race."
Driving him on was his three-year-old son Ben and the memory of his father, Gary, a former Australian endurance cyclist, who died this year.
The 55-year-old suffered from a mystery head injury after being attacked and left to die in Australia, where he lived.
Mrs Wiggins said of Bradley: "He talks to Ben every day and has bought him a BMX bike and a pointy helmet. He is into racing already. Bradley's father passed away a few months ago and it has been a really difficult time. His win at the world championships was for his dad."
Wiggins was born in Ghent, Belgium, where Gary was based. After his parents split, he moved to London at the age of three and was brought up by his English mother Linda in a council estate in Maida Vale. His mother sought activities to keep him on the straight and narrow. After watching Chris Boardman win a cycling gold in Barcelona in 1992 he took up the sport, learning in Hyde Park on afternoons when he should have been at school.
He also showed a natural flair for football and had junior trials with West Ham. But when he was forced to choose between the two, he picked cycling, which he practised while also working as an apprentice carpenter at the Lanesborough Hotel at Knightsbridge.
He first made an impact at the Sydney Games in 2000, winning bronze in the team pursuit.
He was encouraged by Boardman who became a mentor. Four years later in Athens, he made history as the first Briton to win three medals in one Olympics since 1908.
He picked up his first gold, in the 4km individual pursuit followed by a silver in the team pursuit and a bronze in the madison.
Wiggins admitted that winning his first gold in Athens "nearly destroyed him" after he struggled to stay motivated for the other events.
He then worked with Steve Peters, a forensic psychiatrist employed by the British cycling team, who coached him on dealing with pressure.
Last year he spoke about feeling "more relaxed than ever". He and his wife, who live near Preston, Lancashire, also have a daughter, Isabella.
Reader views (1)
What a fantastic story. I had never heard of this man until he wins 2 golds. No prima donna hype, no £75,000 a week demands that we hear from other so called ''sportsmen''. Cycling is as an intense sport as you will ever get, mentally, physically, there is no room for error. You have to push yourself to the limit from the word go. It makes you proud to be Belgium, Australian and from Maida Vale. Hope he gets the 3rd medal. True meaning of the spirit of the Olympics.
- Bondy, Spain
