Robyn Wong takes NZ to Olympics

Robyn Wong is a Kiwi athlete of the highest calibre. Wong came 16th at the Athens games four years ago in the women’s mountain biking, despite the scorching heat. She has consistently been New Zealand’s top women’s rider, competing in world cups and mountain biking events around the world.

As a child Wong grew up in the Waiarapa on a farm, and like most New Zealand rural kids she attended a small country school of around 60 kids. She was very active - “I used to bike to school on my little Raleigh 20,” Wong remembers. Later she attended St Matthews’s boarding school in Masterton, where she developed her love of sports, playing netball, tennis, gymnastics and swimming. Recreationally she did a bit of road cycling to gold level on her heeling 10 speed for her Gold Duke of Edinburgh, and with that she got to travel down to the South Island. She loved running and cross country, but her passion for mountain biking didn’t develop till after her college years.

At Victoria University Wong completed a commerce degree, and she participated in more social sports. After Uni, Wong headed to Canada for two months on an OE; four years, 60 countries, and countless experiences later she returned home. “After my OE, I had decided I would continue to travel whenever I could. My usual saying is, ‘I’ve got to go sit on a mountain every now and again to reflect on life.’” She travelled to Nepal in 1997 and trekked the Annapurna trail and loved it. Wong wasn’t afraid to try new things and at the age of 27 after her flatmate talked her into it, she had a go at mountain biking for the first time. She had no clue she would soon be a New Zealand champ, “I thought it was crazy, and way too hard.” But her determination drove her to improve. Three months later she was competing in her first proper race, the Karapoti, in which she tried out clip in pedals for the first time, and came 5th. From then on she was addicted, and the rest is history.

Between 1999 and 2005 Wong was a force to reckon with in New Zealand women’s mountain biking. She worked while biking in New Zealand, but after saving up, and with help from sponsors, she represented New Zealand in overseas competitions and got a feel for wearing the silver fern. For more experience and to boost her world ranking she competed on tracks in the USA, Canada and all over Europe. “In Europe, cycling is followed like rugby is here,” Wong says. She had 11 continuous summers, as she followed racing events over the world.

The highlight of her career came in 2004, as she qualified for the Olympics and came 16th in a tight field on a hot day on a dusty track. “All 30 competitors start together, and when the guns goes off, it’s all hell for leather. The first lap is carnage. It helps to have a good world ranking so you can get a good starting position and cement your position, a clean start is essential,” explains Wong. Norwegian Gunn Rita Dahl was the current world champ and she blitzed the field.

Wong has competed in over 100 mountain biking events world wide and many more road cycling events. With Wong’s experience, it’s good to hear she still thinks New Zealand has some world class tracks - her personal favourite is Makara peak in Wellington. Wong hopes to see mountain biking develop, especially in the South Island where there are plentiful walking tracks between mountains amongst stunning scenery, that could be developed into amazing mountain biking trails. Some of Wong’s favourite tracks are around Whistler and Squamish in British Colombia, Vancouver, which reminds her of our New Zealand landscape.

Wong’s competitive experience is important to her new job as the Olympic Games team service manager, and she hopes to support and encourage New Zealand’s athelets in Beijing. She is in charge of team logistics - making sure everyone gets to China - and is inspired by the team atmosphere. There have been some concerns about pollution problems in Beijing, and INTREPID asked Wong for her thoughts. “It may have a bearing on endurance athletes like Nina Rillstone, although at the end of the day all athletes compete in the same conditions, there may just be less world records set.” Wong also believes that despite the trouble with Tibet, the Olympics are doing more good than bad, in their effort to bring countries closer together. “The Olympics are more than just a sporting event. I have special memories at Athens, and my life has been so different because of my experience,” says Wong. She’s confident we have some excellent medal prospects in Mahe Drysdale, Rob Waddell, the sailing team, also through Valerie Villi, Mark Todd and Bevan Docherty. “The track cycling pursuit team is looking promising, watch this space,” she says.

Wong herself retired in 2006, but by no means has she given up keeping active. Every week she’s out on her road bike early in the morning keeping fit, and helping novice riders get a feel for road cycling at a top level. In May 2006 Wong competed in the Great Wall marathon in China, which was a grueling 42 kilometres of steps and hill climbing. Wong came 15th out of the women, and 2nd in her age group, proving she is still pushing her limits. With nine Olympic events, including winter, and youth games coming up in the next four years, Wong is going to be busy, but excited with the opportunity to be a part of New Zealand Sport at the top level.