Nicole Cooke
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Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE is a Welsh former professional road bicycle racer and Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman to win a Gold Olympic medal in any cycling discipline. Cooke announced her retirement from the sport on 14 January 2013 at the age of 29.
Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. Team Australia celebrate beating World No 1 Nicole Cooke of Wales, the defending Champion, who Team Wales had sent to compete on her own. Team Wales sent a full squad of six for the men's race, none of whom finished the race. In her autobiography Cooke wrote "By their decision the WCU had gifted Australia, Canada, England and New Zealand my head on a plate".
Cooke wearing the British National Road Race Champion's jersey in the 2010 Flèche Wallonne Féminine, a race she won on three occasions, 2003, 2005 & 2006.
Bridgend
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Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, 20 miles (32 km) west of Cardiff and 20 miles (32 km) east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Ogmore. The River Ewenny also flows through the town. The population was 49,597 in 2021. Bridgend is within the Cardiff Capital Region which in 2019 had a population of approximately 1.54 million.
Skyline of Bridgend Town Centre
The Old Bridge, built in 1425 and crosses the River Ogmore and the tower of St Illtyds Church
St Mary's Nolton Church, Bridgend
Front view of Newcastle Castle Bridgend