Less than two weeks after winning an appeal to race in Paris, Kiwi mountain biker Sammie Maxwell’s pulled off a remarkable top 10 finish.
The Under 23 World Champion finished eighth out of 36 riders – with a time of 01:30:43.
“I’m so stoked, it’s just a dream to be here and to get my best ever elite result I’m just stoked living up the vibes,” she said after the race today.
Maxwell fed an electric crowd, fuelled by some volunteers she’s befriended.
“I gave the marshals lollies – New Zealand lollies – milk bottles and stuff like that and told them you have to cheer for me on Sunday.
"And so they got everyone chanting my name and there were two or three parts on the course where everyone was chanting ‘Sammie, Sammie’ it was just an amazing experience.”
But it’s one the 23-year-old very nearly didn’t have. Originally snubbed by Cycling New Zealand for non performance related reasons, only to win an appeal to the Sports Tribunal that resulted in the New Zealand Olympic Committee having the final say.
“It was a lot actually... It took a lot of energy and more than I thought it would, but I was actually really glad it happened to me because I have an army behind me, people willing to go to war for me.
"So if someone had to go through that, and we all had to learn from that process, I’m so glad it was me and not some young girl just fighting to go to nationals,” she said.
For now, Maxwell plans to just ‘live in the moment’ before World Champs in a couple of weeks.
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