Devon Briggs with Courtney Duncan
He might be the mayor of Tauranga now, but Mahé Drysdale is still one of Waipā’s best Olympians.
Checking out Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale’s Olympic medals at the Waipā athletes’ celebration were Bihoro students, from left Ren Uchibayashi, 17, Yusei Mito, 17, Yuzu Yoshida, 16 and Mei Yokoyama, 17. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
His two gold – won at London and Rio de Janeiro – and a bronze medal from Beijing were among the star attractions at the Waipā Fun Festival at Cambridge Velodrome on Sunday.
George White, 11, formerly of Cambridge and now living in Japan does the erg test watched by his brother Liam Whiter, 13, and Velodrome staffer Manu Robinson. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
World champion paralympian Devon Briggs, 20, who leaves today (Thursday) for Paris was another and he hopes his outstanding form this year carries through onto a track he knows well when the Paralympics start later this month.
Briggs has been an interested observer of the Olympics thus far although when The News spoke to him, racing had not started at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, where he first raced two years ago.
Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan and Tauranga mayoress Juliette Drysdale competing at the athlete celebration day. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
“It’s a really nice track. It’s similar to home, it’s made by the same people, it’s a metre higher with a little bit more steepness in the bankings so it means it’s going to be a really fast, hot track.”
So, the hand-laid Siberian spruce pine French track will be as familiar to him as the one in Cambridge where Briggs first started cycling a decade ago.
Paralympian Devon Briggs and Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan do a whirl around the Velodrome track at the athlete celebration day. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The one he and Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan – she complete with racing lycra – rode around on a racing tandem bike.
“I closed my eyes when we went up those banks,” said O’Regan. “But I put my trust in him.”
Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale and his Waipā counterpart Susan O’Regan line up for a race.
Earlier she and Drysdale competed against each other on trikes in the Velodrome’s infield with O’Regan the victor aided by a spot of help from her husband John Hayward who held the Olympian back at the start.
And then they swapped local politician talk – annual plans, Three Waters and the next Local Government NZ conference – before Drysdale headed off for his first week in the job as Tauranga mayor.
The morning was a big success with the cycle stand at the front of the Velodrome full and plenty for the children to do inside including erg tests, BMX demonstrations, have-a-go sessions and a fan art station.
Checking out Tauranga mayor Mahé Drysdale’s Olympic medals at the Waipā athletes’ celebration were Bihoro students Ren Uchibayashi, 17, Yusei Mito, 17, Mahe Drysdale, Yuzu Yoshida, 16, Alana and Mia Mackay, 17 months, Mei Yokoyama, 17, Liz Stolwyk and Nathan Reymer. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Paralympian Devon Briggs with Courtney Duncan who has Down’s Syndrome and is a top performing cyclist herself plus a powerlifter. he first started cycling with in 2014 while at Cambridge High School. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
New Tauranga mayor and Olympic gold medallist Mahé Drysdale competes against Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan at the athlete celebration day. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
