Race cyclist and former Mount Aspiring College student Ellesse Andrews has won a silver medal in cycling at the Tokyo Olympics.

Ellesse, 21, placed second in the women’s keirin at the Izu Velodrome on Thursday (August 5).

The keirin is racing in a slipstream behind a motorcycle at a medium pace until the last two laps when the motorcycle departs and the riders sprint to the finish line.

Ellesse passed three riders to reach second place behind the winner Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands).

“I can’t stop crying,” Ellesse told Sky Sport after her race. “A silver medal at the Olympics means so much to me.”

Hers was New Zealand's first medal on the bike at the Tokyo Olympics, and it was followed by Campbell Stewart’s silver medal in the men’s omnium just 40 minutes later.

Ellesse, who is now based at the high performance cycling hub in Cambridge, told the Wanaka App last year that Wanaka “will always feel a bit like home”.

Ellesse Andrews. PHOTO: Supplied

“My connection with Wanaka is still strong, having grown up and started my cycling career there on the local roads and tracks,” Ellesse said. 

Wanaka’s Racers Edge “has always been a go to for my family for anything cycling related, and I am grateful to have their support now”.

Much of Ellesse’s previous success has been in endurance team and individual pursuits, but in 2019 she switched to sprints “and I have been loving it ever since,” she said. 

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Ellesse has competed at world class level for several years, including winning gold in the Keirin at the 2020 Oceania champs held late 2019 - “a sprinting highlight”- and representing New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the individual pursuit and time trial.

At age 17, Ellesse won gold in the junior women’s individual pursuit at the UCI Junior World Track Cycling championships held in Italy in 2017, beating the local Italian favourite and setting a world record while she was at it. She was also part of the team pursuit that won the silver medal at the same championships.

The year before that, she won the bronze medal in the individual pursuit at the world championships in Switzerland 2016, as well as taking gold with team-mate Emma Cumming in the team sprint.

“Both my parents rode in track and in mountain bike, and to bring home a medal and be able to share this success with them is extremely special,” Ellesse said after her Olympic win. “I’m so proud.”

PHOTO: Supplied