At just 24, Ellesse Andrews has become a powerhouse in global track cycling. Who can forget her stunning performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where she blazed to a silver medal in the women’s keirin event, well and truly announcing her place among the world’s elite cyclists? But she was no one-hit wonder. In 2023, she stormed the World Championships, clinching gold in both the keirin and sprint events, solidifying her reputation as a force to be reckoned with.
Today Ellesse is more determined than ever to bring home Games gold, but admits she is not the same athlete.
“I’m really excited,” she says. “I’m in a really different place than I was last time. It was all very new and unknown, and I had really big goals, which has always been my thing. But I was a young rider.
“Now I have a bit more experience behind me and it’s a cooler place to be coming from. I’m a different person now than I was at the last Olympics, and that’s just from having more experience and growing up a little bit.”
Originally from Christchurch, Ellesse has always had a passion for cycling, thanks in part to her father, Jon Andrews, a former Commonwealth Games cyclist. Growing up in a cycling-centric family, she quickly found her calling on the track. Today, her dad Jon is now being called coach after he became head of the women’s sprint programme last year.
But her talent doesn’t end at the velodrome. Along with her exceptional sporting ability, Ellesse has a passion for music and performance – an area inspired no doubt by her mother Angela, who is a musician and music teacher. Ellesse recently collaborated with Olympic kayaker Max Brown to help write the Kiwi team song Ain’t Just Dreaming.
With an Olympic gold medal chance tantalisingly close, Ellesse may be about to turn her own dream into reality.
Watch Ellesse compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics exclusively with Sky Sport.
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