Stephen Cox, a premier New Zealand cyclist and leading events’ organiser, has been named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours.

“Coxsy” earned the award for services to cycling as a highly respected rider, coach and race organiser, which has included raising significant funds for charities.

He competed in the 1984 Olympic Games road race and in three Commonwealth Games, including a bronze medal in the road race at Brisbane in 1982.

As a rider he won the Tour of Southland, the Tour of New Caledonia and the Grafton to Inverell race in Australia among his 32 New Zealand Championship medals and 49 major tours.

While he finished runner-up on several occasions, Cox claimed a much-prized national road championship title at Upper Hutt.

“It’s always a highlight to make any New Zealand team. To compete at several Commonwealth Games and an Olympic Games was up there - I was also selected for Moscow 1980 but there was the Moscow boycott,’ Cox said.

After Cox’s racing career concluded in 1989, he transitioned to organising cycling events. Born in Taranaki, he moved to the Waikato over 40 years ago and among his business interests is well-known cycling events company, Dynamo Events.

“Putting on events has been the passion for the last 35 years. I actually organised a couple of races and did some coaching for a few years even before I’d given up racing,” he said.

He was asked if he would organise the Tour of Waikato, and jumped at the opportunity which has since shaped his life.

Cox has organised more than 220 major cycling events at regional, national and international levels since 1986.

“I helped bring the Women’s UCI World Cup road races to Hamilton in 1999, 2001 and 2002. They raced around Hamilton Lake and we had the best riders in the world here,” he said.

Cox was also the National Women’s Road Cycling coach from 1990 to 1991 and Cycling New Zealand team manager to Japan in 1994 and the Commonwealth Games in 1998.

Dynamo Events became a fulltime gig in 2009, and in later years an operation he shared with his son Nathan. The company organised multi-day tours and race series along with events for Cycling New Zealand including the - the Elite Road National Championships from 2020 to 2023 and the Age Group National Championships from 2014 to 2017.