Anton Cooper

Anton Cooper (born 11 August 1994) is a New Zealand cross-country cyclist who races for the Trek Factory Racing XC Team.[1] He is the 2015 World Under 23 Cross-country Mountain bike champion and the 2012 World Junior Cross-country Mountain bike champion.[2] One of the two contenders for the country's 2016 Summer Olympics quota spot, he developed chronic fatigue earlier in 2016 and the nomination went to Sam Gaze instead.

Anton Cooper
Anton Cooper at the McLeans Island 12 Hour Day/Nighter, October 2012
Personal information
Full nameAnton Cooper
Born (1994-08-11) 11 August 1994
Team information
DisciplineMountain bike racing
Rider typeCross-country
Professional teams
2012Trek World Racing
2013–Cannondale Factory Racing

Early life and education

Cooper is from Woodend, a town in the Waimakariri District 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Christchurch.[3][4] His parents are Paul and Laila Cooper, and he has several sisters.[4][5] He received his education at Christchurch Boys' High School[3][6] and he graduated in 2012.[7] He has since moved to the Christchurch hill suburb Westmorland, not far from the Christchurch Adventure Park.[8]

Cycling career
Cooper in February 2014

Cooper started racing aged 11, encouraged by his father.[4] Apart from cross country riding, he enjoys cross country running and tennis.[4] Among other riders, he admires Julien Absalon and Nino Schurter, and among other athletes, he looks up to former rugby union player Richie McCaw, cricketer Brendon McCullum, and rowers Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.[4] Before receiving professional sponsorship, he was discovered as a strong talent by Christchurch adventure racers Steve Moffatt and Steve Gurney, who organised financial support from various business people.[9]

As a 16-year-old, he surprised by winning the 2011 Karapoti Classic in Upper Hutt.[10] When the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake hit, his competition bike got stuck in a bike shop and he had to compete at the nationals on an old training bike.[8] Significant wins in his career as an amateur include winning silver at the World mountain bike championships in Champéry, Switzerland in 2011,[6] and winning gold in the 2012 World mountain bike championships in Saalfelden, Austria.[11] Cooper is the first New Zealander who won a world championship in cross country cycling, and it was his last race before he turned professional.[11] He then won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, a race in which Sam Gaze from Rotorua, New Zealand, won silver, making it the first gold–silver win for New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games.[3] Cooper then became Under 23 Cross-country world champion at the 2015 World mountain bike championships in Andorra.[12]

In December 2011, Cooper signed a sponsorship contract with the Trek Bicycle Corporation for 12 months.[7] Trek decided to focus on downhill racing and Cooper signed a contract with the Cannondale Bicycle Corporation in December 2012 for 24 months.[13]

Rules set by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for sports cycling, stipulate that mountain bikers must be at least 19 years old in the year Olympic Games are held to be allowed to compete. Cooper was outside of that requirement by eight months for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. BikeNZ, New Zealand's national governing body of cycle racing, sought a dispensation for Cooper but this was declined.[7] New Zealand was given one quota place for a male mountain biker for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the general expectation that either Gaze or Cooper will be chosen.[14] Cooper's 2016 World Cup races were upset by him developing chronic fatigue, with him first recognising symptoms in February 2016.[15] In June 2016, the Rio selection was thus awarded to Gaze,[16] and it caused Cooper some "really dark weeks".[17] Cooper suspended his 2016 campaign and returned home to New Zealand from his Northern Hemisphere summer base in Germany. In August, he underwent surgery on adenoids that are giving him problems.[15] Ahead of the 2017 national championships, he lost access to his bike once more as he had been evacuated from his Westmorland home due to the 2017 Port Hills fires, but Police let him through the cordon to retrieve all he needed to travel to the competition.[8]

Palmarès
2011
2nd Junior Cross-country – World mountain bike championships Champéry, Switzerland
1st – Junior Cross-country World Cup Round 6 Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic
1st – Junior Cross-country World Cup Round 7 Val di Sole, Italy
1st – Karapoti Classic, Wellington, New Zealand; youngest ever overall winner
2012
1st Junior Cross-country – World mountain bike championships Saalfelden, Austria
1st – Junior Cross-country World Cup Round 6 Windham, USA
1st – Junior Cross-country World Cup Round 5 Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
1st – Junior Cross-country World Cup Round 1 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
2013
1st Elite and U23 Cross-country – National mountain bike championships Rotorua, New Zealand
1st – U23 Cross-country World Cup Round 5 Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
2nd – U23 Cross-country World Cup Round 6 Hafjell, Norway
4th U23 Cross-country – World mountain bike championships Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
2014
1st – Men's cross-country 2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland
2015
1st Elite and U23 Cross-country – National mountain bike championships Rotorua, New Zealand
1st Under 23 Cross-country – World mountain bike championships Andorra
2016
1st – Oceania mountain bike cross country championships Queenstown, New Zealand

References
  1. "Cooper signs with Cannondale Factory Racing Team for 2013". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  2. "Cooper ends junior career with world championship victory". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. Richens, Matt (30 July 2014). "Anton Cooper wins with mountainbike gold". The Press. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. "Anton Cooper". 23degrees. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  5. Stylianou, Georgina (31 July 2014). "'Sporty Woodend kid' Cooper claims the gold". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  6. Richens, Matt (8 September 2011). "Canterbury teens bring medals home". The Press. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  7. Tutty, Kevin (14 December 2011). "Trek signs Christchurch mountain biker". The Press. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  8. van Royen, Robert (17 February 2017). "Mountain biking star gets through cordon". The Press. p. B12. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  9. Gifford, Phil (3 August 2014). "No hakas but Glasgow Games have been blast". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  10. "16-year-old wins Karapoti Classic". Stuff.co.nz. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  11. George, Sue (8 September 2012). "Cooper ends junior career with world championship victory". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  12. Davis, Hanne (10 September 2015). "World junior mountain bike champion Anton Cooper targets Olympic medal". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  13. "Cooper to compete at worlds for Cannondale". The Press. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  14. "Gaze ready for mountain bike showdown with Kiwi world champion". Cycling New Zealand. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  15. van Royen, Robert (19 August 2016). "Canterbury Mountain Biker Anton Cooper home and ready for surgery next week". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  16. "Sam Gaze beats out Anton Cooper for Rio selection". Newshub. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  17. van Royen, Robert (14 July 2016). "Mountain biker Anton Cooper down but not out after missing out on Rio". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
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