When Aucklander Steph McKenzie first started cycling she had to literally re-learn how to ride a bike.
Six years later she is one of this country's most exciting sprinting talents.
The bubbly 17-year-old came from a gymnastics background, but the rigours of the sport meant she was making weekly visits to an osteopath.
Her osteopath was also a cyclist and he believed McKenzie had the ideal build for cycling.
The only problem was, McKenzie had basically forgotten how to ride a bike.
She turned up to a track session armed with little more than some curiosity after watching Sarah Ulmer win Olympic gold on the television.
"I hadn't ridden a bike for ages. I used to do the Weet-Bix triathlon and that sort of thing. It was fun, an adrenalin rush.
"I think the second time on the track I got up to the top and that was fun."
McKenzie became involved in a Peter Snell programme and was almost immediately marked down as a sprinter.
A talented athlete, McKenzie started dabbling in weightlifting in 2008 to improve her strength and did so well that she was considered a lifter for the future if she had chosen to continue with the sport.
Now, however, she's on the fast track to international cycling stardom.
She won silver at the junior world championships in Italy this year in the team sprint, an eye-catching result given McKenzie still has a year left at junior level and was sent to the event to gain experience.
She won the under-19 sprint final at the Oceania championships in Adelaide recently and took out three titles at the March national championships in Invercargill.
Source: stuff.co.nz
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