Guest Speaker To Share Her World-Beating Experiences

Guest Speaker To Share Her World-Beating Experiences

MAY 16, 2016: A Kiwi and world champion of the past will talk to the current crop of champions of the past, present and future when Motorcycling New Zealand's centenary celebrations wind up on Sunday.

Katherine Oberlin-Brown (nee Prumm) will be the guest speaker at breakfast on the function's third and final day on Sunday (May 22), just prior to MNZ's annual general meeting, the last item on the agenda that will wrap up the annual conference and awards weekend.

New Zealand's Oberlin-Brown put her country on the map when, as a sparkly-eyed and fresh-faced 17-year-old, she first arrived in Europe in 2005, remarkably finishing runner-up that year to Germany's Stephanie Laier in the Women's Motocross World Cup, the forerunner to what was later to become recognised (in 2008) as the women's world championships.

She returned to Europe in 2006 and this time won the world title outright, beating Laier, before once again the following year she headed halfway around the world from her home in Bombay, South Auckland, to successfully defend her title, this time beating French rider Livia Lancelot to the crown.

As a sidebar, it is interesting to note that Lancelot, now aged 28, currently leads the 2016 title chase, although she is only in that position because 20-year-old New Zealander Courtney Duncan, who had been leading the series, was the victim of a freak crash at the latest round in Germany just over a week ago.

But, a decade ago, it was South African-born Oberlin-Brown who commanded the women's side of the sport.

Oberlin-Brown also won both her races at the Women's Motocross Association (WMA) Women's Cup in Floresville, Texas, in 2007, to add that title to her world crown that year.

It was through gritted teeth that Oberlin-Brown talked about her failed bid in 2008 to make it three women's world titles in a row.

Though riding injured – her ACL knee ligament ruptured in a pre-season crash – Oberlin-Brown still led the 2008 world championships after three rounds and she looked well on target to defend her 2007 crown with only two rounds to go.

That was until another crash, this time while practicing, just days before round four of the series in Germany, sent her tumbling again to the sideline, her collarbone snapped into four pieces.

She had to settle for fifth overall in 2008.

Oberlin-Brown had planned to be back on the start line in Europe at the start of 2009 but a massive crash, again while practicing, sent her straight to hospital. Her spine was damaged and fears were held that she might never walk again.

She later made a full recovery, but her motocross racing career was over.

Now aged 27, happily married and living in Hamilton, although no longer a regular visitor to the motocross race tracks of the world, Oberlin-Brown is still nonetheless heavily involved in elite sport.

She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science and then completed her Masters Degree, the culmination of five years of hard study.

She now works as a physiologist for High Performance Sport New Zealand where she plays a key role helping the current generation of elite Kiwi athletes fulfil their ambitions.

Oberlin-Brown's work has been with Olympics-related sports people, those involved in athletics and now mainly with rowing.

"I will talk (at the MNZ conference breakfast) about my journey through motocross and about what I achieved and what I learned and I will discuss how another world also opened up for me."

The awards and centenary weekend is supported by principal sponsor Mike Pero Real Estate, with a number of category sponsors also backing the event. The categories and sponsors are: Female Rider of the Year (Bike Rider Magazine, Dirtrider Downunder); Service to Motorcycling (Crombie Lockwood); Best Up & Coming Off-Road Rider (Precise Print & Design); Best Up & Coming Road Rider (Suzuki); Male Rider of the Year (Mike Pero Real Estate). Supporting sponsors: BikesportNZ.com, Gibson Sheat Lawyers, Spark New Zealand.

Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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