Ellesse Andrews on the podium at last year's Paris Olympic Games where she won two gold and one silver medal. Photo: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
The most successful cyclist in New Zealand Olympic history has dedicated her latest honour to the people who supported her decorated career - and it isn't over yet.
Four-time Olympic medallist and double Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in this year's King's Birthday Honours for services to cycling.
The 25-year-old sprinter said front of mind was her parents who were there when it all began.
Her father, Jon Andrews, was no stranger to the cutthroat world of elite cycling when he introduced his young daughter to the sport.
He won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the time trial, and knew the speeds she would be reaching when she raced the steeply banked oval tracks of the velodrome.
He also wore the silver fern at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria.
While mother Angela Mote-Andrews knew about competing on two wheels as an elite mountainbiker.
Currently competing in Japan with the New Zealand team, Andrews said the honour was a bolt from the blue.
"It means a lot to me but also really signifies the support that I have to had to get to this point," Andrews said.
"Absolutely my family, my friends and everyone has been so supportive and I guess beyond that the community that we have within cycling in New Zealand."
Andrews grew up in Luggate and attended Wānaka Primary School and Mount Aspiring College until her final two years when she attended St Peter's in Cambridge.
She 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 last year's Paris Olympic Games.
She became the first New Zealand cyclist to win two gold medals and three medals in total at a single Olympics. Together with the silver medal she attained in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, taking her Olympic medal haul to four medals.
The previous best was two medals won by cyclist Hayden Roulston at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
Alongside her Olympic medals, Andrews won the the Keirin title at the World Track Cycling Championships in Glasgow in 2023. She also won three gold medals at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
While the medals on the track have come thick and fast, she didn't have an honour like this on her radar.
"I didn't really expect it at all so it was really a massive surprise to read the email and then to see it come out today - yes, it's a huge privilege."
"I'm really proud to have been a part of it and I'm really proud to go out there on the world stage and really to continue to put New Zealand on the map because we have so many talented riders."
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