Ellesse Andrews

Ellesse Mote Andrews MNZM (born 31 December 1999) is a New Zealand racing cyclist. She represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Summer Olympics,^[1] where she gained a silver medal in the keirin.^[2][3] At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she earned two gold medals for winning the keirin and sprint, as well as a silver medal in the team sprint.^[4]

Ellesse Andrews
MNZM

Andrews in 2020
Personal information
Born	(1999-12-31) 31 December 1999 (age 25) Christchurch, New Zealand
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)[1]
Team information
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Medal record Women's track cycling Representing  New Zealand Olympic Games 2024 Paris Sprint 2024 Paris Keirin 2020 Tokyo Keirin 2024 Paris Team sprint World Championships 2023 Glasgow Keirin 2023 Glasgow Sprint Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham Team sprint 2022 Birmingham Sprint 2022 Birmingham Keirin 2022 Birmingham Team pursuit Junior World Championships 2016 Aigle Team sprint 2017 Montichiari Individual pursuit 2017 Montichiari Team pursuit 2016 Aigle Individual pursuit Oceania Track Cycling Championships 2019 Adelaide Individual pursuit 2020 Invercargill Keirin 2022 Brisbane Sprint 2022 Brisbane Keirin 2022 Brisbane Team Sprint 2023 Brisbane Sprint 2023 Brisbane Keirin 2023 Brisbane Team Sprint

Early life

Andrews was born in Christchurch Women's Hospital at 23:45 on 31 December 1999, fifteen minutes short of the year 2000.^[5] Her father is Olympic cyclist Jon Andrews, who represented New Zealand at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and 1992 Summer Olympics.^[6] Her mother is Angela Mote-Andrews, who competed internationally in mountain biking. Mote-Andrews was preparing herself for her inaugural participation at world championships—the 1999 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Åre, Sweden—when she got pregnant.^[7] She has one younger sister.^[8]

Andrews grew up in Wānaka and attended Mount Aspiring College until the end of Year 11 before moving to St Peter's School in Cambridge for the final two years of secondary school.^[9]

Cycling career

Andrews started cycling competitively aged 14, initially mountain biking but she soon changed to track cycling.^[7] She asked her father to pay for dance classes and a deal was made that they would do more cycling. Shortly afterwards, her father bought her a track bike, which got her into track cycling.^[10]

Andrews won four medals, including two gold at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships.^[7] Competing in the Izu Velodrome, she won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics keirin. She had to go through the repechage to progress to quarter and semi finals. In the final, she moved into second place with two laps to go and held that place.^[11]

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Andrews became the first woman to win the Olympic gold medal in both the keirin^[12] and the sprint^[13] at the same games.^[14] She had earlier won the silver medal in the team sprint event, alongside Rebecca Petch and Shaane Fulton.^[15]

Major results

2016

UCI Junior World Track Cycling Championships

1st Team sprint

3rd Individual pursuit

2017

UCI Junior World Track Cycling Championships

1st Individual pursuit ^[a][16]

2nd Team pursuit

2018

Oceania Track Cycling Championships

1st Individual pursuit ^[17]

2019

UCI Track Cycling World Cup

3rd Team Pursuit (Hong Kong) ^[18]

2021

Tokyo Olympic Games

2nd Keirin

2022

Birmingham Commonwealth Games

1st Sprint^[19]

1st Team sprint^[20]

1st Keirin^[20]

2nd Team pursuit^[21]

2023

UCI Track Cycling World Championships

1st Keirin^[22]

3rd Sprint^[23]

2024

Paris Olympic Games

1st Sprint

1st Keirin

2nd Team Sprint

Honours and awards

Andrews won Secondary School Sportswoman of the Year at the February 2018 Waikato Regional Sports Awards. A week later, she won the Emerging Talent award at the Halberg Awards.^[7]

In the 2025 King's Birthday Honours, Andrews was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cycling.^[24]

Notes

1. In the qualifying round, Andrews clocked a 2:18.080 world junior record