BMX: Sarah Walker grabs medal after seven-year drought

Sarah Walker (right) is all smiles with winner Laura Smulders (centre) and Alise Willoughby. Photo / Nico van Dartel

The All Blacks were not the only Kiwi sports stars making waves in Argentina this weekend, with Sarah Walker fighting back from years of injury-laden adversity to finish on the podium in the latest round of the BMX World Cup.

Walker finished third in the seventh and penultimate round in Santiago del Estero in northern Argentina, her first World Cup podium in seven years.

The 30-year-old veteran was third in the final behind world champion Laura Smulders (Netherlands) and 2017 world champion Alise Willoughby (United States).

Walker's last World Cup podium was in London in 2011. Since then, she has battled serious injuries but remained determined to make her comeback at the highest level.

She was third in a stacked qualifying heat ahead of Willoughby and fellow American Brooke Crain, who were both forced to qualify in the last-chance heat.

The New Zealander won her quarter-final in impressive fashion after storming out of the gate to lead throughout, and was second behind American Felicia Stancil in the semifinal by just 5/1000ths of a second.

She bounced well out of the gate in the final and, while Smulders and Willoughby pushed clear, Walker was just as emphatic in third placing.

Earlier, Te Awamutu's Rebecca Petch qualified in the opening heat in second place but was edged back to fifth in her quarter-final.