When the latest Skeggs grants were announced yesterday, MacLeod was one of 10 elite Otago sportspeople to have been elevated to the more lucrative category one grant. MacLeod (30) will use the grant to prepare for next year's world downhill mountainbike championships in Canberra.
MacLeod was the first competitor from New Zealand and Australia to finish on the 2.2km Canberra course, the venue for the world championships. Queenstown's Scarlett Hagen was 11th. It was MacLeod's first World Cup event since finishing 13th in Colorado in 2001.
She came back to serious mountainbiking in time for the world championships in 2006, and last February regained the New Zealand downhill title she last won in 2001. MacLeod, a qualifications assessor for Work and Income in Dunedin, was one of New Zealand's most promising downhill riders when she broke her elbow in Vermont in 2001.
There were 123 recipients of Skeggs Grants and 25 of them were in category one.
"A high standard is expected for category one grants," Sport Otago chief executive John Brimble said.
"Most recipients are in the top 10 in the world in their specialist events. They must have the potential to perform on the world stage."
The Skeggs Foundation, now administered by Sport Otago, has two grants rounds each year.
A total of $100,000 will be given to recipients this time. There were 223 applications for the 123 grants with the largest grant being $3400. The average grant was $813.
Notable category one grant recipients include Beijing Olympians Alison Shanks (cycling) and Hamish Bond (rowing), and snow and ice sport specialists Adam Hall, Juliane Bray and Jossi Wells.
"The closeness of the veledrome at Invercargill has made cycling more prominent and there are increasing numbers from Central Otago in the ice and snow sports," Brimble said.
To gain a category two grant a sportsman must be at least a New Zealand junior representative or make a significant contribution at national level in age group competition.
Skeggs Foundation grants
New category one recipients
Debbie McCaw, Cory Innes (athletics), James Dawson, Calum Brash (canoe slalom), Katey Martin (cricket), Sheryl MacLeod (downhill mountainbiking), James Williamson (road cycling), Nicky Samuels, Tony Dodds (triathlon), Katrina Grant (netball).
