Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools Sportsperson of the Year award winner, cyclist Regan Gough, hopes the 600km-plus of training he puts in each week will see his world championship silvers replaced by golds next year.
"Next year the junior world championships will be my age group. I was two years younger than some of my competitors this year," Central Hawke's Bay College's Gough explained after receiving the award in front of a 400-strong crowd in the Hawke's Bay Opera House last night.
Earlier in the evening, Gough, 17, won the male award and he was hot favourite for the premier award, after winning two silver medals as a member of the New Zealand team at the August junior world track championships in Glasgow. One was in the team pursuit final and the other in the 30km Madison 120-lap race with Alexandra's Liam Aitcheson.
Those feats saw Gough named in an extended training squad to prepare for next year's Commonwealth Games. Last week, he won the junior male award for the fourth consecutive year at the Central Hawke's Bay Sports Awards.
At his last Oceania Championships in Adelaide, Gough won a gold medal in his scratch race final and a silver in the team pursuit final. He is a cousin of Olympian Westley Gough, the last cyclist to win the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools premier award, eight years ago.