[4] Being just 17 at the time, Varnish was selected for the programme a year ahead of the rest of her age group, demonstrating British Cycling's belief in her potential.

[7] On 18 February, Varnish competed at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the new Olympic Velodrome.

Along with her team-mate Victoria Pendleton, they broke the world record of the women's team sprint taking gold.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Varnish and Pendleton broke the world record in the qualifying stages of the team sprint before being relegated in the semi-finals.

[8] In April 2016 The Daily Telegraph reported that Varnish's Olympic Podium Programme contract with British Cycling had not been renewed, with Performance Director Shane Sutton stating that the decision was due to Varnish's performances over the previous three years, and denying that it was related to comments she had made in interviews at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships which were critical of the selections that had been made for the women's team sprint squad in their qualifying campaign for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which was ultimately unsuccessful.