Victoria Pendleton could earn £1m per year after retiring from Olympics

London - Victoria Pendleton, who retired without wearing the crown of the most highly decorated woman athlete of all time, could now earn 1 million pounds a year with deals promoting lifestyle, fashion and make-up.

The 31-year-old track cyclist could also earn up to 20,000 pounds a time on the corporate speaking circuit, the Daily Mail reported.

The Olympic sensation added a silver medal to Pendleton’s 2012 and 2008 golds in front of a rousing crowd at the Velodrome.
 
She failed to trounce her Australian arch enemy Anna Meares – a win that would finally have laid to rest the controversy, competition and cat-fighting between them.

The Olympic hopeful was disqualified in the first of three finals with Meares after making contact in the final sprint to the finish, a decision that filled the arena with booing and countless faces frozen in disbelief.

However, her silver success – combined with another gold each for Sir Chris Hoy and 20-year-old Laura Trott – also dramatically bolstered Team GB’s ever growing medal tally.

Whatever the result, the crowd still adored Vicky, Vicky, Vicky!

She now plans to start building a normal life with her fiance Scott Gardner, the ex-Team GB sports scientist who broke a golden rule by falling in love with his charge and was effectively cold-shouldered out of the squad.

They are set to marry next year.

Nor will she be short of an income. Pantene hair product company has chosen her as the face of its Pro-V ‘smooth and sleek’ range, reinforced on Monday with a photo of her in a figure-hugging dress.

There is a suggestion that she might appear on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, while her father Max hinted that she might pursue a career in television.