Samara SHEPPARD

Biographical Information

Highlights: 
Nickname: Sam, Kiwi (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)
Hobbies: 

Outdoors, hiking, beach (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)

Occupation: "Receptionist at a physio clinic." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)
Education: Communications at Massey University, New Zealand
Languages spoken: English
Coach: 

PERSONAL: Kyle WARD (AUS) (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)

Injuries: 

"I rode for a UCI road team one year and we were racing the Giro d'Italia and I came around a corner too fast, the seal wasn’t very good and I came off and slid into a gutter’s edge. I hit the edge on my tailbone and cracked my sacrum. That was a one-off crash on road cycling in 2014. I couldn’t really move. It was lucky, because I flew back from Europe in business class - which I had never done before. It took a good three months to recover. My glutes switched off, so that glute activation took a year to get the muscles firing to what they did before." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)

Reason: "I used to be a keen runner, but I kept getting injured, so my dad was like let’s go mountain biking. I went with him and his friends, they then entered me into the local PNP series. I won my first race and was like, ‘This is awesome.’" (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)
Ambition: "The (Tokyo) 2020 Olympics is a real dream of mine. I’ve been consistently improving over the past couple of years, to keep building on that and see what happens." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)
Memorable: "As an U23 rider I won a World Cup in Mont Sainte-Anne in Canada and then last year (2017) I won the New Zealand Championships as an elite and Oceania Championships as an elite. That was my first time winning elite titles." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)
Influence: "My close friends and family inspire me. I did a lot of cycling with Kate MCILROY (NZL), she's been a huge inspiration. She's an Olympian and a triathlete, and does a lot of cycling. On the mountain bike scene, Gunn-Rita DAHLE FLESJA (NOR) and Sabine SPITZ (GER). They’re in their 40s and they’re still competing and getting on podiums, so I think that’s inspiring." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)
Ritual: "I like to have risotto, my partner makes a really good risotto, and a glass of Pinot." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2018)

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