Olivia Podmore

Olivia Rose Podmore (24 May 1997 – 9 August 2021)^[1][2] was a New Zealand professional racing cyclist.^[3] She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games.^[4]

Olivia Podmore

Podmore in February 2020
Personal information
Born	(1997-05-24)24 May 1997 Christchurch, New Zealand
Died	9 August 2021(2021-08-09) (aged 24) Cambridge, Waikato, New Zealand
Height	174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Team information
Role	Rider

Early life

Born in Christchurch in 1997, Olivia was the daughter of Philip and Nienke (née Tabak) Podmore. She had one elder brother, Mitchell.^[1][2][4] She was educated at Middleton Grange School.^[5]

Her great-grandfather, Cornelis Gerardus Tabak, was an Olympic weightlifter for Holland in the 1928 Amsterdam Games.^[6]

Career

Podmore started out cycling in BMX at age nine, later moving to road cycling and then to track cycling.^[5]

In 2015, Podmore moved to Cambridge in Waikato to train with the national cycling team.^[7] That year, Podmore won silver alongside Emma Cumming in the team sprint and bronze in the time trial at the Junior Track World Championships in Astana.^[8]

Podmore rode in the women's team sprint event at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.^[9] She also competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, although she and her teammate Natasha Hansen did not advance from the qualification round in the team sprint.^[10] They finished ninth in the event.^[11] She crashed in the keirin event at the games^[7] and finished 25th in the event.^[11] She also came 23rd in the heats of the individual sprint event at the games.^[12]

In 2017, Podmore was the New Zealand keirin champion.^[13] At that year's Oceania Track Championships, Podmore came second in the 500 metres time trial event, and she came second alongside Emma Cumming in the team sprint event.^[14] She competed for New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.^[15] She was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the individual sprint competition^[16] and came sixth in the keirin event at the games.^[17] She won the 500 metres time trial event at the 2019 Oceania Track Cycling Championships^[18] and competed in the team sprint event at the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.^[19] She competed in the same event at the 2020 Championships.^[20]

Podmore reached the qualification criteria for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics but was not selected by the New Zealand Olympic Committee.^[21]

Death

Podmore died in Cambridge on the evening of 9 August 2021, aged 24.^[1] Her death is a suspected suicide and was referred to the coroner.^[8][21] Hours before her death, she posted on Instagram about the pressures of high-performance sport.^[15][21] Podmore's funeral was held in Christchurch on 13 August 2021.^[22] She was buried in Christchurch's Yaldhurst cemetery.^[23]

In September 2021, Cycling New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) appointed former New Zealand solicitor-general, Mike Herron QC, and Professor Sarah Leberman MNZM to co-chair an inquiry. Also sitting on the panel were Dr. Lesley Nicol ONZM and rowing Olympic medalist Genevieve Macky. The terms of reference of the inquiry included:^[24][25][26]

1. assessing the adequacy of the implementation of the recommendations from the 2018 Heron Report; identification of areas of further improvement that would ensure the wellbeing of athletes, coaches, support staff and others involved in Cycling New Zealand’s high performance programme are a top priority within the environment;
2. assessment of the support offered to athletes at critical points within Cycling New Zealand’s high performance programme (by both Cycling New Zealand and HPSNZ), with a particular emphasis on induction, selection and exit transitions;
3. assessment of the impact that HPSNZ investment and engagement has on Cycling New Zealand’s high performance programme;
4. assessment of the impacts of high performance programmes which require elite athletes to be in one location for most of the year, with a particular focus on Cambridge; and
5. an understanding of what steps can be taken to improve current and future practices, policies and governance of Cycling New Zealand’s high performance programme with a view to ensuring the safety, wellbeing and empowerment of all individuals within that environment.