Sammie Maxwell

Samara Louise Maxwell (born 27 December 2001), generally known as Sammie Maxwell, is a cross-country cyclist from New Zealand. At the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, she became the women's under-23 cross-country world champion.

Sammie Maxwell
Personal information
Full nameSamara Louise Maxwell
Born (2001-12-27) 27 December 2001
Taupō, New Zealand
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Team information
Disciplines
RoleRider
Rider typecross-country
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Women's cycle racing
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 GlasgowU23 cross-country

Early life

Maxwell was born on 27 December 2001[2] in Taupō.[3] She received her schooling at Taupo Intermediate School[4] and Tauhara College.[5]

As a young woman, Maxwell suffered from an eating disorder that developed into relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S); this was diagnosed during 2018. By early 2021, Maxwell was still on a reduced training programme to deal with reduced energy levels.[3]

Maxwell is now based in Wellington. She studied at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with a bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences in 2023.[3][6] She aims to complete a PhD one day and work in cancer research.[3]

Cycling career

Maxwell got into mountain biking as an eight-year-old, inspired by her father who also got her brother riding.[7] She mainly competes in cross-country, but also races cyclo-cross and on the road.[1]

Maxwell competed at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, alongside Phoebe Young in the combined team event; they came eighth.[3][8]

At the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, Maxwell came 14th in the junior cross-country race.[9]

At the August 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Scotland's Glentress Forest, Maxwell beat the two Swiss riders who had been seen as pre-race favourites: Ginia Caluori and Ronja Blöchlinger. In the world championship race, she held a lead from the beginning.[10] She is the first New Zealander to win the U23 world title.[11]

References
  1. "Sammie Maxwell". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  2. "Samara Maxwell". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. Rounce, Henry (19 April 2021). "Mountain bike champ's race against RED-S". Newsroom. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  4. Fullick, Milly (18 September 2023). "Waikato mountain bike rider becomes under-23 women's world champion". Waikato Herald. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  5. Marshall, Chris (29 July 2019). "Taupō's Sammie Maxwell has a mountain bike dream". Waikato Times. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  6. "Roll of graduates". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  7. Shand, Matt (20 January 2016). "Super Sammie carving a reputation". Waikato Times. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  8. "Phoebe Young". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  9. "Results – 2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Junior XCO". Vital Media Network. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  10. "NZ's Sammie Maxwell wins world under-23 mountainbike championship". Stuff. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  11. "Sammie Maxwell wins historic U23 world mountain bike cross-country title". Cycling New Zealand. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
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