Mention perfect consolation to Hawke's Bay BMX rider Amy Martin and she will reply two gold medals.
The 15-year-old Iona College Year 10 student's two golds won at the International Children's Games (ICG) which ended in Port Macquarie on Thursday helped dilute the disappointment Martin experienced when she crashed out of the August world championships in Rotterdam at the quarter-final stage. One of three Hawke's Bay medal winners at the six-day Games which involved more than 1500 12-15-year-olds Martin won gold in a 15-competitor time trial by 0.2 of a second and her race final which followed three motos by five lengths.
"This was my one and only opportunity to compete at these Games so I made the most of it," Martin, the country's No 1 ranked rider in her age group, explained.
Martin will be hoping for similar success when she returns to Australia later this month as a member of the New Zealand team for a test series against the Aussies. She spent most of yesterday catching up on sleep because she has five races in Cambridge today and another five in Te Awamutu tomorrow.
In Rotterdam in August Martin and another competitor went into a corner together and the other rider's elbow was on top of Martin's handlebars which prevented her from turning.