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Sarah Ulmer
ONZM
	Ulmer at the 2002 Women's Challenge
Personal information
Full name	Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer
Born	14 March 1976 (age 48); 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
Representing New Zealand
Women's track cycling
Olympic Games
Commonwealth Games
World Championships

Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer ONZM (born 14 March 1976) is a New Zealand former competitive 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

Ulmer trained at the velodrome in Te Awamutu. Her home town is Cambridge. Ulmer has two daughters.^[1]

In the 2005 New Year Honours, Ulmer was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cycling.^[8]

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

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

Palmarès

Source:^[7]^[12]^[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; 1st Stage 8 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin; 1st Stage 8 Tour de Snowy

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; 1st Stage 4 Geelong Tour; 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 Overall Tour of New Zealand^[19]

1st Stage 1 & 4

1st World Cup Road Race Wellington^[20]

6th Overall Geelong Tour

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

^ ^a ^b "Life focus shift for first lady of speed". The Leader. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sarah Ulmer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
^ "1998 Commonwealth Games Track Competition Malaysia, Women's 3000m Pursuit" 16–19 September 1998 cyclingnews.com
^ ^a ^b "Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit, Ulmer breaks Games record to win IP" Gerry McManus, cyclingnews.com 2 August 2002
^ ^a ^b "World Track Championships 2004 Melbourne Australia, Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit qualifying, Ulmer takes world record" cyclingnews.com 27 May 2004
^ Track Cycling World Championships 2014 to 1893 bikecult.com. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
^ ^a ^b Sarah Ulmer profile cyclingarchives.com
^ New Year Honours List 2005 Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
^ Ulmer hangs up the bike TVNZ News, 27 November 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
^ "Sarah Ulmer". Olympic.org.nz. New Zealand Olympic Committee.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "PM Announces Sarah Ulmer As Cycle Trail Ambassador". Voxy. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
^ Track Cycling - Sarah Ulmer the-sports.org
^ An interview with Sarah Ulmer cyclingnews.com. 2003
^ Sarah Ulmer's Page kidsonbikes.co.nz
^ "1999 World Track Championships Germany, Women's Points Race" cyclingnews.com 24 October 1999
^ "1999 World Track Championships Germany, Women's Individual Pursuit" cyclingnews.com 21 October 1999
^ "Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games Women's Points Race" cyclingnews.com 30 July 2002
^ "2003 World Track Championships Germany, Women's Individual Pursuit" cyclingnews.com 2 August 2003
^ Tour of New Zealand 2006 cqranking.com. 4 March 2006
^ Sarah Ulmer takes brilliant victory 2006 Archived 11 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine 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.

External links

Sarah Ulmer at Cycling Archives (archived)
Sarah Ulmer at ProCyclingStats
Sarah Ulmer at Olympics.com
Sarah Ulmer at Olympedia
Sarah Ulmer at the New Zealand Olympic Committee

Awards
Preceded by Susan Devoy	New Zealand's Sportswoman of the Year 1994 2004	Succeeded by Marnie McGuire
Preceded by Irene van Dyk	New Zealand's Sportswoman of the Year 1994 2004	Succeeded by Kate McIlroy
Preceded by Silver Ferns	Halberg Awards – Supreme Award 2004	Succeeded by Michael Campbell
Preceded by Blyth Tait	Lonsdale Cup of the New Zealand Olympic Committee 2002 2004	Succeeded by Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell
Preceded by Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell		Succeeded by 1982 rowing eight