According to The Times, "Shanaze's mother, Joanna, was 17 when her daughter was born. Her Jamaican father, Lincoln, did not stay long after the birth and the little girl was brought up at first by her grand-parents, Mick and Mary Reade ..."

Shanaze Reade was initially keen on athletics, but took to BMX quickly and at just 15 she became the World U-18 BMX champ.

In July 2007, in her first senior season, Shanaze Reade became the Women's Senior UCI BMX World Champion.

By 2008, Shanaze Reade had amassed eight European, five British and three world titles in the BMX junior and senior arenas. Before 2008 there was no chance of Olympic medals as it was not until then that BMX entered the Olympics.

The Beijing Olympics proved disappointing for Shanaze Reade. She was comfortably in silver position when she pushed hard to get gold and as a consequence crashed and left the Olympics without a medal.

Shanaze Reade's cycling skills have extended beyond BMX. In March 2007 she and Victoria Pendleton won a world track cycling gold in the women's team sprint. They regained the title in 2008.

The 2007 victory came only three months after Shanaze Reade's first training session in a velodrome.

UK Sport has an interesting video interview with Shanaze Reade.