Cooke represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the Women's Road Race where she won the gold on 10 August 2008, the 200th gold for Great Britain in the Modern Olympic Games. The road cycling disciplines had been in the Olympic program since inception of the modern Olympics in 1896. The Individual Road Race has featured in every games with the Team Time Trial, Individual time Trial and Team Road Race appearing in certain Olympic programs. By 2008 Britain had a record of achieving six Silver and four Bronze Medals in all road disciplines and just three Bronze and two Silvers (Freddie Grubb – 1912 & Frank Southall – 1928) in the Individual Road Race. Thus, in 2008, Cooke not only recorded the first British Olympic Gold Medal in any cycling discipline for a female and also the first ever Gold Medal won in any road discipline by a British rider, irrespective of sex. On the previous day none of the four British men entered in the Individual Road Race finished the race. This was also the first ever Olympic Gold Medal won by a Welsh woman in an individual Olympic event.