Biker wins Olympics spot over eating disorder exclusion

New Zealand mountain biker Sammie Maxwell has won an appeal against her exclusion from the 2024 Paris Olympics after a tribunal ruled that selectors used incorrect medical evidence about her eating disorder to exclude her.

Maxwell, 22, was initially denied a place at the Games by Cycling New Zealand’s (CNZ) nominations panel despite having secured a quota place.

The panel said the New Zealander had failed to “meet her burden of proving that she was not mentally or physically impaired” by an eating disorder she has suffered from since she was 15.

Maxwell appealed the decision and the New Zealand Sports Tribunal ruled that CNZ had excluded her based on an outdated medical report.

The tribunal found that Ryan Hollows, CNZ’s high performance director, submitted a “biased” memo to the nominations panel that unfairly influenced the decision.

The court said the suggestion that an athlete must be mentally or physically disabled because they have an eating disorder was an “uncomfortable precedent” and would “do more harm than good”.

“I recognize that everyone involved in the process has a shared goal: to put my health and well-being first,” Maxwell said in a statement after winning her appeal.

“I didn’t always agree with how everyone thought I should be, but I’m grateful to have so many people around me who care for me and look after my health.”