Louisa Wall: Ulmer's character came out after the golden ride

COMMENT

Sarah Ulmer made me cry. What a wonderful win in the 3000m individual pursuit to cap a period of absolute dominance in her chosen field.

Decreasing the world record by six seconds is phenomenal and rather hard to comprehend given the international quality and quantity of participants and the technologically competitive nature of the sport.

She gave it everything and her gasps for air after the ride showed what an effort she made. A true Olympic champion.

And Sarah's actions after the race showed what she was made of. First to be greeted was her opponent Katie Mactier of Australia.

Before the celebrations had begun she paid tribute to her rival and suspended her feelings of euphoria to appropriately acknowledge the contribution of the other rider.

Then it was a hug for her coach and partner Brendon Cameron whom she has credited with motivating her to continue after she was close to retirement.

So, behind this great woman is a partner who has encouraged her to be the best she can be and his contribution will continue to define her presence in the sport, I am sure.

Finally, she found mum, dad and her brother Peter and the whanau cuddle that ensued capped off a moment that you just can't buy. It was one of complete satisfaction and celebration.

And the marvel of technology meant that we could share in this moment with the whanau. Admit it, you cried too.

Sarah's humility was gracious in its application and her honesty and integrity belied a sense of self-satisfaction, self-awareness and the fulfilling of individual potential that in some ways meant the actual context of the race was irrelevant.

She was competing against herself and 10 years of preparation were finally able to be traded in the ultimate competition.

There was no air-punching, strutting or pretence and in interviews after the race our down-to-earth girl hadn't changed.

How very proud we can all be in her achievement and success.

This win was created a long time ago. Obviously, she was encouraged into the sport through an active whanau who participated (and supported her to be active) but her involvement at elite level and support from the Sports Foundation (now Sport and Recreation) and companies such as McDonald's have ensured that she has had the time and resources to be successful. Her success has required sustained investment and maybe a 10-year funding investment for a return such as a gold medal is a normal assumption to make.

So, if we want to be successful internationally, we have to back people to get there eventually.

Not fund athletes, sports teams and codes for a couple of years and when they don't win, stop the support. We have to fund them to get there.

A great example is 19-year old Valerie Adams. She will win a gold medal eventually, and we need to support her over a sustained period.

Sport and Recreation is aiming to produce athletes and teams that win consistently in events that matter to New Zealanders. It all matters if we are successful and cycling in New Zealand will also benefit from Sarah's success which is just desserts for a code that obviously has good systems of coaching, competition and talent identification.

How fascinating it is to observe the intensity of the debate raging across the Tasman over Sally "lay-down" Robbins.

It is not a very good advertisement for the Australian immigration service.

Even an Australian would probably not want to be one given the ferocity of the attacks.

The lying down on the job had happened before at the 2002 world rowing championships so the selectors and her team-mates were aware that she had a problem pacing herself.

Maybe she is weak psychologically or her battery short-circuits.

Whatever the case, the selectors and the coaches must be in question.

She obviously has talent and potential but team performance is the responsibility.

And finally, keep on going the Bay. I was a doubter last week but the Bay boys in their own town are proving that the win on Eden Park was no fluke. Long may the reign continue. Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand netball and rugby representative