Ellesse Andrews

Ellesse Andrews is an Olympic medallist, having won silver in the keirin at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Andrews won her silver medal the hard way – coming from the back of the field – but produced a blistering final two laps, to claim silver.

“I can't stop crying," said Andrews. "I think in a keirin you just have to get the absolute right balance of physical effort and tactical execution. To get that right today and to get a silver medal, I'm so proud of myself. To come away from this with a silver medal is just amazing.”

Andrews is also a four-time Commonwealth Games medal winner, having won gold in the individual sprint, team sprint and Keirin, as well as silver in the team pursuit at Birmingham 2022.

Andrews was born in Christchurch, but grew up in Wanaka, attending Mount Aspiring College. She moved to St Peter's Cambridge for her final two years of schooling when her father, Jon, also a former Olympic and Commonwealth cyclist, took up the role of a high-performance coach with Cycling New Zealand (CNZ), and Andrews finished her schooling while enrolled in the CNZ Junior programme.

Andrews, who started competitive cycling at 14, won four medals, including two gold at the UCI Junior World Track Cycling World Championships in 2016 and 2017, earning her the Emerging Talent honours at the 2018 Halberg Awards.

She is fiercely competitive and determined and is studying psychology off the track, something she is passionate about.