Natasha Hansen is one of three cyclists competing for two places in the New Zealand team for the Rio Olympics next year. Photo / Dianne Manson
You can't question Natasha Hansen's desire to return to the top in her sport.
The track cyclist is in a three-way contest for two places at next year's Olympic Games in Rio.
Hansen, with Katie Schofield and Steph McKenzie, all know hardship of different sorts.
McKenzie has had to cope with type 1 diabetes since she was 8.
Schofield was dropped from the national programme last year but has battled her way back into the frame.
Hansen went to the Olympics in London three years ago but then dropped out of the sport for a time.
About six weeks before London one of her closest friends, Nicola Stock, died of cancer. It was a difficult time and she acknowledges she needed to take time out to regroup.
But she never lost the will to fight her way back. Rio was always in her mind and now, back in the elite squad, who are preparing for a busy year, it's full steam ahead.
A turning point came late in 2013.
"I had a charity boxing event in Christchurch and managed to build up my fitness again and was able to get quite strong and realised physically I was quite fit and had a lot of unfinished business on the track," Hansen said.
An air traffic controller, Hansen, originally from Christchurch, moved north from Invercargill at the end of last year to work in Hamilton and train in Cambridge, HQ for New Zealand cycling.
"I thought at some point I'd like to get back into this but it's only natural to have down times when you think, 'No, I'm not going to get back'.
"Then things change in your life and you think that thing you wanted could come to fruition."
She received a boost when selected for a World Cup meeting in Cali, Colombia, at the start of this year, where she combined with Schofield to break the New Zealand team sprint record and finish fourth overall. That will have served to whet her appetite.
Hansen, whose partner Ben Stewart is in the elite development sprint group, reckons the three women "all get on pretty well".
"Katie and I both have an understanding of going away to regroup and having to fight to get back. Steph was on the programme by herself for a while.
"All of us have gone through our own things in the last three or four years and I think we can kind of relate and empathise with personal situations. That's made us closer."
The women have been through a solid training block. They were based in Pennsylvania for three months.
Now if they cast their eyes ahead, they have the Oceania Championships in Invercargill (October 8-11), then World Cup events in Cali, Colombia (October 31-November 1), Cambridge (December 5-6) and Hong Kong (January 16-17), followed by the world championships in London (March 2-6) , all leading to the big show in Rio in July.
The first task is to qualify for the team sprint in Rio, and there's a keirin in sight too. Points need to be accumulated through those events.
Hansen and Schofield will team up in the Oceania Championships, in the New Zealand team named yesterday. Three riders, two places. They all know the score.
Meanwhile, double Beijing Olympic medallist Hayden Roulston will return to the New Zealand squad for the Oceania champs.
Roulston, who has not competed on the track for seven years, has been named in a 17-strong New Zealand team. The championships will provide direct entry for winners to next year's world championship, which is a vital stepping stone towards the Rio competition.
The New Zealand team are a mix of current elite squad and development riders.
The team include the current world championship silver medallists Sam Webster, Eddie Dawkins and Ethan Mitchell (team sprint) and 2013 omnium world champion Aaron Gate.
Roulston will be the experienced hand in a young combination in the team pursuit with Manawatu's 2014 junior world champion Luke Mudgway, fellow teenager Nick Kergozou (Southland) and 24-year-old former junior world champion Cam Karwowski (Southland).
Men, sprint: Matt Archibald (Southland), Eddie Dawkins (Southland), Ethan Mitchell (Auckland), Simon van Velthooven (Manawatu), Sam Webster Auckland).
Endurance: Aaron Gate (Auckland), Cam Karwowski (Southland), Nick Kergozou (Southland), Hayden Roulston (Canterbury), Luke Mudgway (Manawatu).
Women, sprint: Natasha Hansen (Southland), Katie Schofield (Otago).
Endurance: Lauren Ellis, Kirstie James (Southland), Alysha Keith (Otago), Liz Steel (Canterbury), Pip Sutton (Waikato).
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