Arguably Wales’ greatest female athlete, cyclist Cooke’s precocious talent was obvious when she won the British senior road race title in 1999 at the age of 16.
By the time she was given the Carwyn James award, Cooke had added a list of titles that included a second British national crown, the senior British cyclocross title and junior world titles in mountain bike, time trial and road race.
Cooke’s crowning achievements came in 2008 when she claimed the Olympic road race gold, external medal in Beijing and the World road race title in Varese, Italy – the first competitor, male or female, to win both titles in the same year.
