Grief, blame, then gold: How New Zealand cycling’s fate unfolded

Track cycling in New Zealand has enjoyed a stunning success after a country that was previously grieving over the death of an athlete, public condemnation and efforts to right its wrongs. The Paris Olympics brought a glimmer of glory to New Zealand, but the sport is not ready to declare itself “fixed”.

The Tokyo Olympic cyclists had just arrived at Narita Airport on the second day of the Closing Ceremony, bringing to a close that strange, spectator-less event three years ago, when the terrible news began to trickle in.

Their friend and teammate Olivia Podmore was found dead in her Cambridge flat in a suspected suicide. She was only 24 years old.

The tragedy has left Podmore’s teammates, coaches and New Zealand Cycling support staff shocked and saddened.

While members of the Tokyo Olympic team quietly battled their grief in isolation after returning to New Zealand, Cycling New Zealand bosses were weathering the storm outside.

Podmore’s death was sparked by a worrying social media post in which she spoke about the pressures of high-performance sport, which sparked a wave of allegations about the way New Zealand Cycling treated its athletes.

Podmore’s treatment, particularly her role as a whistleblower in a 2018 investigation into widespread leadership and cultural issues within Cycling New Zealand, has also come under scrutiny.

On the first day of the Paris Olympics, Cycling New Zealand faced one of the biggest crises in the history of the country’s sports organization.

This will result in massive staff turnover, the loss of a major sponsor, and yet another damning investigation into its high-performance environment and the decisions of its leaders.

The sport in which New Zealand won the most medals at the Paris Olympics

New Zealand cyclists left Paris on Monday after three years, following their most successful Olympic campaign in history. Two more medals at the Velodrome on the last day Olympic Games – Ellesse Andrews won the women’s sprint gold medaland Bronze medalist is Ally Wollaston In this extremely tough all-around event.

Andrews’ amazing performance brought the team’s total number of goals to five. Keirin gold medaland Silver Women’s team sprint and Team pursuit projectThis makes cycling New Zealand’s most medal-winning sport in Paris.

Andrews is the first track cyclist to win the women’s short-distance singles title at the Olympics and is undoubtedly the most dazzling star in this Olympics.

It had been 20 years since New Zealand last won an Olympic gold medal in cycling. Yet, over the course of three days, Andrews won two gold medals – both of which were won with stunning dominance.

Just six months ago, the 24-year-old was Suffered a concussion and a broken collarbone in a devastating car accident At the UCI Nations Cup in Adelaide.

Andrews, a former training partner of Podmore, said it felt “surreal” to win three Olympic medals after all the injuries and setbacks of the past three years.

“I think it’s going to take a while to process everything that’s happened, not just this year but the whole past Olympic cycle,” she said.

“I need some time to process it all, but it means I can be here (in Paris) in perfect shape with my best friends, which is unreal.”

Andrews and Wollaston stood on the track at the National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines after the medal ceremony on the final day, tears streaming down their faces as their teammates saluted them with a haka.

For Wollaston, who fought her way from eighth place to the podium in the final all-around event, a bronze medal felt like a gold medal and she said it was at that moment that she truly felt her achievement.

“It’s fantastic to be part of the best team in New Zealand athletics. It’s also New Zealand’s first medal in the women’s all-around, so I’m really proud of that and I’m also proud to be part of the wider team,” said Wollaston, who was also part of the silver-medal winning women’s team pursuit team.

New Zealand finished second in the velodrome medal table behind the Netherlands, which also won five medals but had one more gold.

Providing a “safer, healthier and more inclusive” environment for women

It is significant that all five medals at the Paris Olympics were won by women.

It represents a significant shift from the environment that Mike Heron KC and renowned scholar Sarah Leberman investigated as part of a study just three years ago. Independent investigation into New Zealand Cycling’s high performance programme After Podmore’s death.

The findings highlighted widespread gender discrimination in the program.

“We need to do more to meet demand and ensure women cyclists receive equal treatment and opportunities,” the 104-page report reads.

The problem was exacerbated by the “overall male dominance” of high-performance sports, which the survey said affected women’s performance and potential. It also found a lack of proper support and “inadequate safeguarding” around women’s health.

Kereyn Smith, former chair of Cycling New Zealand, was responsible for taking the report’s 29 recommendations and putting them into practice. She took over as Cycling New Zealand’s transformation director earlier this year after completing all of Cycling New Zealand’s action points.

For Smith, with a 104-page document in hand, translating these heavy words into tangible changes is a daunting task.

She said she is most proud of her work creating a “safer, healthier and more inclusive” environment for women.

Why keep trying

It would be an oversimplification to say that New Zealand cycling has been ‘solved’ – to assume that all challenges in the environment have disappeared with the execution of the action points.

Cycling New Zealand has faced more selection disputes than any other sport in the Sports Tribunal this year. The tribunal’s decision shows there are ongoing concerns about Cycling New Zealand’s communications around selection. The tribunal was particularly critical of the Mountain biker Sammie Maxwell was not nominatedMaxwell’s appeal was supported by the court.

“A good high-performance culture is about going above and beyond, creating a safe and inclusive place for the people involved in the project, while also being appropriately challenging to achieve world-class results,” Smith said.

“It’s something that needs to be worked on continuously, there’s no end date where you can say ‘OK, the work is done, we don’t have to worry about this anymore’.”

Cycling New Zealand will face more challenges in the second half of this year.

Next month, the Allied Athletes Cooperative, which represents 60 of the nation’s top rowers and cyclists, will Head-on battle with High Performance Sport NZ In the employment tribunal The long struggle for better wages and working conditions For athletes.

The hearings will last two days and at least one cyclist is expected to tell their experiences with New Zealand’s cycling system.

Then, in November, a coronial hearing into Podmore’s death will take place, which will require a vital and necessary re-examination of the tragic events of 2021.