EIT Student To Compete In Rio   12 May 2016

EIT Student To Compete In Rio

EIT graduate and top Hawke’s Bay cyclist Hannah van Kampen has been selected for a New Zealand para-cycling squad to compete in the Paralympic Games in Rio.

Seven para-cyclists has been named to go to Rio in September and the team will be accompanied by pilots who will ride with them on tandem bikes. That includes Hannah, who grew up in Hastings and graduated with EIT’s Bachelor of Recreation and Sport earlier this year.

Hannah says she is still getting her head around her selection but is very excited to be going to Brazil to compete in the games.

Most recently, she has been riding with Amanda Cameron, who made her international debut at the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in March.

With Hannah as her sighted pilot, Amanda put in an exceptional performance which took her into fifth place. Together they set a personal best in the women’s B 3km pursuit.

At the end of last year, Para-Cycling New Zealand assigned Hannah to work with world para-cycling champion Emma Foy as the partially sighted athlete prepared to defend her title at the games.

That, Hannah said at the time, “is living the dream”.

In the lead into the Paralympics, Emma and Amanda will train and compete alternately with two sighted pilots, one of them Hannah. The final tandem pairing combinations are to be confirmed in early July.

Hannah attended Taikura Rudolf Steiner School before coming to EIT on a Year 13 Degree Scholarship. She was also awarded an EIT/Sport Hawke’s Bay sports scholarship.

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