Sarah Ulmer

Sarah Ulmer

Ulmer at the 2002 Women's Challenge
Personal information
Full name	Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer
Born	14 March 1976 Auckland, New Zealand
Height	167 cm (5 ft 5 ^1⁄2 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb; 10.1 st)
Team information
Discipline	Road and track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Pursuiter / points race / time-trialist / road racer
Medal record Competitor for  New Zealand Track cycling Olympic Games 2004 Athens Individual Pursuit Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester Individual Pursuit 1998 Kuala Lumpur Individual Pursuit 1998 Kuala Lumpur Points Race 1994 Victoria Individual Pursuit World Championships 2004 Individual Pursuit 1999 Points Race
Infobox last updated on 12 September 2014

Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer ONZM (born 14 March 1976) is a former Olympic cyclist. She is the first New Zealander to win an Olympic cycling gold medal, which she won in the 3km individual pursuit at the 2004 Athens Olympics setting a world record.

After the 2004 Olympics, she held the Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship Pursuit titles, and the records for those events.

Biography

Ulmer was born in Auckland, where she studied at the Diocesan School for Girls. Her grandfather Ron Ulmer was a track cyclist for New Zealand at the 1938 British Empire Games. Her father Gary was a national road and track champion.^[1]

Individual pursuit races

In 1994 she won the World Junior Championship and placed second at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada with a time of 3 minutes 51 seconds.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics she was seventh after qualifying 6th with 3m 43s.^[2]

At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur she won the gold medal with 3m 41.7s.^[3]

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics she qualified 4th with 3m 36.8s and came 4th after losing the ride off for third by 0.08 of a second.^[2]

At the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games she won the gold and set a games record of 3m 32.4s.^[4]

In May 2004 she won the World Championship in Melbourne and set a world record of 3m 30.6s in qualifying.^[5] At the Athens 2004 Olympics she broke the world record in qualifying with 3m 26.4s and took almost two seconds off that time to win the gold in the final with 3m 24.5s. Ulmer reduced the world record by six seconds. The silver and bronze medalists, Katie Mactier from Australia and Leontien Ziljaard-van Moorsel from the Netherlands, also went under the previous world record (3m 30.6s) in each of their three rides. They rode faster with each ride and rode 3m 27.6s and 3m 27.0s respectively in the finals.

In May 2010 at Aguascalientes, Mexico at an altitude of 1,870 metres (6,140 ft), American Sarah Hammer broke Ulmer's world record with a time of 3m 22.269s. As of September 2014 nine current world cycling records for distances of 4 km or less have been set at Aguascalientes.

The current world championship record of 3m 27.268s was set by fellow New Zealander, Alison Shanks in Melbourne in 2012.^[6]

Other races

Ulmer did well in points races, winning a junior world championship and placing 3rd and 4th at senior world championships. She placed 2nd and 5th (twice) at Commonwealth Games.

After the 2004 Olympics she switched to road racing. The Cycling Archives website includes results for her competing in road races in the US, France, Australia, Belgium and Germany from 1999 to 2006.^[7]

Other information

She trained at the velodrome in Te Awamutu. Her home town is Cambridge. In the 2005 New Year Honours, she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cycling.^[8]

She announced her retirement from cycling on 24 November 2007.^[9] She attended the 2008 Olympics as a mentor.^[10]

In 2011, she signed up as an 'ambassador' for the New Zealand Cycle Trail.^[11] Ulmer has two daughters.^[1]

Major results

Source:^{[12][7][13][14]} All pursuits are 3 km individual, apart from two 2 km junior pursuits.

1993

2nd Pursuit World Junior Championships (2km)

1994

1st Pursuit World Junior Championships (2km)

1st Points Race World Junior Championships

2nd Pursuit Commonwealth Games

5th Points Race Commonwealth Games

1995

1st Pursuit, National Championships

2nd Points Race, National Championships

3rd Sprint, National Championships

2nd Pursuit, Australia National Championships

1st Pursuit, Adelaide World Cup

3rd Points Race, Adelaide World Cup

1st Pursuit, Quito World Cup

1st Pursuit, Tokyo World Cup

1996

1st Pursuit, National Championships

2nd Points Race, National Championships

7th Pursuit Atlanta Olympics

1998

1st Pursuit Commonwealth Games

2nd Points Race Commonwealth Games

2nd Pursuit, National Championships

1st Points Race, National Championships

1999

3rd Points Race World Championships^[15]

6th Pursuit, World Championships^[16]

2nd Pursuit, Texas World Cup

2nd Pursuit, Cali World Cup

2000

4th Pursuit Sydney Olympics

8th Points Race Sydney Olympics

1st Pursuit, Cali World Cup

2nd Pursuit, Turin World Cup

2001

1st Pursuit, Mexico City World Cup

1st National Criterium Championships

2002

1st Pursuit National Championships

1st Points Race National Championships

1st National Criterium Championships

1st Pursuit, Sydney World Cup

1st Scratch Race, Sydney World Cup

3rd Points Race, Sydney World Cup

1st Pursuit Commonwealth Games^[4]

5th Points Race Commonwealth Games^[17]

2003

4th Pursuit World Championships^[18]

1st Pursuit, Mexico World Cup

1st Pursuit, Sydney World Cup

3rd Points Race, Sydney World Cup

3rd Scratch Race, Sydney World Cup

1st Pursuit, National Championships

1st Points Race, National Championships

3rd 500m Time Trial, National Championships

2004

1st Pursuit World Championships^[5]

4th Points Race World Championships

1st Pursuit, Mexico World Cup

3rd Scratch Race, Mexico World Cup

1st Pursuit, Sydney World Cup

3rd Points Race, Sydney World Cup

1st Pursuit Olympic Games

6th Points Race Olympic Games

2005

1st National Road Race Championships

1st National Time Trial Championships

1st Road Race Oceania Games

1st Time Trial Oceania Games

2006

1st Tour of New Zealand^[19]

1st World Cup Road Race Wellington^[20]

2007

3rd National Road Race Championships

Photo gallery

• 

  2001 Women's Challenge circuit race

• 

  2002 Women's Challenge – time trial

• 

  2002 Women's Challenge – stage 7

References

1. "Life focus shift for first lady of speed". The Leader. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
2. Sarah Ulmer biography and olympic results sports-reference.com
3. "1998 Commonwealth Games Track Competition Malaysia, Women's 3000m Pursuit" 16-19 September 1998 cyclingnews.com
4. "Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit, Ulmer breaks Games record to win IP" Gerry McManus, cyclingnews.com 2 August 2002
5. "World Track Championships 2004 Melbourne Australia, Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit qualifying, Ulmer takes world record" cyclingnews.com 27 May 2004
6. Track Cycling World Championships 2014 to 1893 bikecult.com. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
7. Sarah Ulmer profile cyclingarchives.com
8. New Year Honours List 2005 Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
9. Ulmer hangs up the bike TVNZ News, 27 November 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
10. Sarah Ulmer Biography olympic.org.nz
11. "PM Announces Sarah Ulmer As Cycle Trail Ambassador". Voxy. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
12. Track Cycling - Sarah Ulmer the-sports.org
13. An interview with Sarah Ulmer cyclingnews.com. 2003
14. Sarah Ulmer's Page kidsonbikes.co.nz
15. "1999 World Track Championships Germany, Women's Points Race" cyclingnews.com 24 October 1999
16. "1999 World Track Championships Germany, Women's Individual Pursuit" cyclingnews.com 21 October 1999
17. "Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games Women's Points Race" cyclingnews.com 30 July 2002
18. "2003 World Track Championships Germany, Women's Individual Pursuit" cyclingnews.com 2 August 2003
19. Tour of New Zealand 2006 cqranking.com. 4 March 2006
20. Sarah Ulmer takes brilliant victory 2006 womenscycling.net. 5 March 2006

• Butcher, Margot (2010). Golden Girls: Celebrating New Zealand’s six female Olympic gold medallists. Auckland: HarperSports/HarperCollins. pp. 60–83. ISBN 978-1-86950-892-0.