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Cyclists dominate at 52nd Halberg awards

It was a fantastic showcase of sporting excellence at the 52nd Halberg awards, where the presence and success of Cambridge athletes, particularly cyclists, was certainly felt.

Cycling New Zealand and the Avantidrome were very well represented with finalists in 6 of the 7 award categories, and taking out top honours in two of these categories; Regan Gough awarded the emerging talent award, and Anthony Peden taking out coach of the year.

The emerging talent award is designed to identify and assist a young athlete in their quest to become an Olympic and/or world champion. With past winners such as golfer Lydia Ko and rugby league player Shaun Johnson, the emerging talent award isn’t given out lightly. Along with the prestige and honour of receiving the award, Gough was granted $10,000 to help support his development.

Cycling New Zealand team coach Anthony Peden took out the coach of the year award, taking top honours over the likes of Steven Hansen and Steven Kearney from larger sports like Rugby.

Under Peden’s guidance the mens’ sprint team of Sam Webster, Eddie Dawkins, and Ethan Mitchell, took out the 2014 World Championship sprint title and Commonwealth Gold. Peden also coached Sam Webster to Commonwealth gold in the individual sprint and silver in the Keiran, Eddie Dawkins to bronze in the individual pursuit, and Simon Van Velthooven to silver in the Kilo, and Matthew Archibald to bronze in the Kilo.

Cambridge has seen an influx of athletes to the area over the past year with facilities such as the Avantidrome and Rowing high performance center. These facilities making Cambridge as a hub for High Performance and positioning us as a dominant sporting region.