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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Napier's scooter star Alex Madsen proud to put New Zealand on world scootering map

By Roger Moroney
Reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
16 Jul, 2019 12:38 AM3 mins to read

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Alex Madsen celebrated with a skate through Napier after she finished second in the women's scooter finals at the 2019 World Roller Games in Barcelona. Photo / Warren Buckland

Alex Madsen celebrated with a skate through Napier after she finished second in the women's scooter finals at the 2019 World Roller Games in Barcelona. Photo / Warren Buckland

A fleet of about 60 fine scooters and enthusiastic riders took to Emerson St in Napier on Tuesday afternoon for a parade to honour Alex Madsen's stunning scooter achievement on the global stage, and she was delighted.

And overwhelmed.

"I can't quite believe this is happening — it's so good," she said before leading off.

More than 4000 competitors from 81 countries had taken part at the 2019 edition of the World Roller Games games in Barcelona.

Madsen, 21, was part of a 15-strong field competing in the first ever women's world scooter championships and she put in two superb preliminary runs to get through to the July 7 final as top qualifier, only to be narrowly pipped for the title by US rider Rebeca Ortiz.

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Her great second place at the event echoed the equally stunning runner-up spot achieved by the Black Caps in their Cricket World Cup clash with England.

They were so close to taking that number spot, as was Madsen in her remarkable scootering exploits in Barcelona... so was there also a time there that she thought "I can do this" and take out the world title?

"I thought I could win but didn't really know how it would work out," she said.

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"Yeah a bit disappointed," she said of hearing she had been pipped into second place.

"But I'm happy because making New Zealand proud is awesome."

Which is something she is very much looking to do again when the next world champs roll round next July.

"I've already started training and yep, I'm going for number 1."

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Somewhere over the moonbow, way up high, in Hawke's Bay

18 Jul 02:39 AM

As the Black Caps had done, she said she was proud to do her bit in putting a small country right up near the top on the world stage of sport.

When she arrived for the parade her scootermates had their mobile phone cameras ready, and the snaps and selfies were taken.

Asked what he thought of Madsen's achievement one young lad simply said "awesome".

To which another added "better than awesome".

"Okay, let's go guys," she called out and led the group up the closed off main street — to rounds of applause and waves from bystanders as her home town welcomed her back and applauded her medal-winning skills.

Despite forecasts of possible showers the weather was perfect and the blues skies began to appropriately emerge.

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The parade scootered up to the Sound Shell and then steered a course down Marine Parade to Bay Skate where a celebratory barbecue for friends, fans and supporters sizzled into action.

And yes, there was plenty more scootering to be done, with Madsen also taking to the course, of course.

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