Cycling New Zealand congratulates Ellesse Andrews on receiving the Member of the NZ Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours List.

Ellesse set new standards in the sport after winning gold medals in the Women’s Sprint and  Keirin along with a silver medal in the Women’s Team Sprint at the 2023 Paris Olympic Games.

Ellesse became the first New Zealand cyclist to win two gold medals and three medals in total at a single Olympic Games. Together with the silver medal she attained in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, Ellesse is the most successful New Zealand cyclist in Olympic Games history with four medals.

The previous best was two medals won by Hayden Roulston at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

Ellesse makes a significant contribution off the bike also, including composing and recording a special NZ Team Song for the Paris Olympics with Olympic kayaker Max Brown.

She is joined in the honours list by London Olympic BMX medallist Sarah Walker, who receives the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to BMX and Sport governance. Sarah has made an outstanding contribution an elected member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), serving on the IOC Athletes Commission since 2016.

“Cycling New Zealand congratulates both Ellesse and Sarah for their much-deserved recognition,” said Cycling New Zealand CEO, Simon Peterson.

“Ellesse has become our most successful Olympic medallist in history and Sarah was a BMX luminary and a London Olympic medallist.

“Notably both women have made, and continue to make, significant contributions to sport and to the community off the bike.”

Cycling New Zealand also congratulates two other major contributors to cycling who have been awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Bruce Ross was a long-time administrator for Cycling Southland and well known as the race director of the Tour of Southland since its inception for over 50 years

John Struthers was a pioneer in cycling in this country and Australia as the founder of Avanti Bicycles, which was a leader in bike development, both in competition and recreation. The company played a key role in the development of the cycling bodies in NZ, helping to launch BMX in NZ and built the first BMX track. The brand supported several key events as well as many leading riders and the Cycling New Zealand high performance programme.