Wanaka's Phoebe Young will join multi-world age-group champions Jessie Smith and Cailen Calkin in a five-strong New Zealand cycling team to compete at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.
The athletes will compete in the 13-day games in Buenos Aires from October 6-18 in a team comprising BMX, mountain bike and road riders.
Smith was the 16 years BMX world champion in 2017 and ninth in her first year as a junior elite in 2018.
Calkin, a three-time Challenge world champion, was a quarterfinalist in the junior elite (under-19) category this year.
At the Youth Olympic Games the pair will compete in the BMX racing against other riders of the same sex, with their results to be combined as medals are awarded to the team with the most points.
The pair are joined by three mountain-bike riders, Samara Maxwell (Taupo), Max Taylor (Palmerston North) and Young.
Maxwell is the national under-19 mountain-bike champion, while Young is the Oceania under-19 winner and also New Zealand under-19 road time trial champion.
Taylor, the 2017 under-17 mountain-bike champion, has also had success as a road rider.
The 2018 Youth Olympic Games will be the third edition of the summer youth games. The games are a pre-elite development opportunity for the world’s most promising young athletes, allowing them to experience a multi-sport games environment while exposing them to learning and cultural opportunities and helping them on the performance pathway.
