19-Year-Old mountain biker goes national

Mountain biking has been on the forefront of Annabel Bligh’s mind since she can remember. Coming from a family with a history of cycling has aided in Annabel’s love for the sport, spurring her to start racing competitively at the age of 12.

Annabel has since been making waves in the mountain biking world, gaining opportunities that not many other kiwis would have the chance to.

“My biggest achievement would be getting selected for the New Zealand mountain bike team as a junior for the UCI World Champs.”

The UCI World Champs saw her racing in Europe and North America, competing against some of the world's best. These overseas races didn’t go without their hiccups for Annabel though.

“I am quite known to not be able to stay on my bike so I’ve definitely had my fair share of injuries, here and overseas as well. I impaled myself with a branch in my pelvic area, broke my collarbone at the start of the year as well.”

Through these bumps in the road Annabel has continued to show her resilience and love for mountain biking, getting back on the bike as soon as she was healed. Jeremy Bligh, Annabel's dad, has seen her through some of her overseas races.

“Super proud of the way she’s handled the pressure, the stress, you know the highs and lows, being able to pick her up through injuries, and just her resilience. How she can just keep coming back with enthusiasm.”

Annabel juggles training five times a week along with studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Canterbury. As a female partaking in a predominantly male dominated sport, she draws inspiration from those around her in the mountain biking scene.

“There’s not many girls in the sport, so definitely watching girls start racing is very inspirational, I guess that’s part of the reason why I want to stay in the sport is to motivate more girls and give them the confidence that they can race.”

Annabel has a few races lined up in New Zealand over the summer period but hopes to head over to Brazil in April next year for two of the World Cups.