Olympic Medallist Auctions Signed Top for Earthquake Victims

Olympic and Commonwealth Games cycling medallist Sam Bewley is wanting to do his bit for the Christchurch earthquake victims from afar.

The Rotorua cyclist, based in Spain with the Radioshack Pro Tour team, is auctioning a signed cycling shirt from his Beijing Olympic medal winning team pursuit combination.

Bewley said he was out at dinner with fellow Kiwi pro tour riders Greg Henderson and teammate Jesse Sergent, when they heard about the earthquake.

“I had a text from my girlfriend. Every morning and every night I have been tuning into the news. It’s pretty horrific listening to it over here and being separated from New Zealand it still hits pretty close to home,” Bewley said.

“It’s massive in the media here and probably big in every country in the world right now. Certainly lots of the cycling fraternity over here have been talking to us about it.

“Obviously this has hit the people of Christchurch the hardest. They must really be feeling it.

“It also affects kiwis all over the world I think. This sort of stuff does not happen in New Zealand. We are not used to it and when it does happen, the whole country and all Kiwis come together and want to do something.

“That’s what I want to do. This is a pretty special piece of cycling and sporting history that I have had for a couple of years. I thought there was no better situation so I want to raise as much as I to give it all to the Red Cross Appeal.”

The cycling top is from Bewley’s bronze medal winning team at Beijing signed by including himself, Hayden Roulston, Sergent, Peter Latham and Westley Gough.

“It’s up on Trade Me and I want to challenge cycling fans in New Zealand and around the world to bid for this piece of history and help out in a small way those victims in Christchurch. It’s a small way I can help and hopefully it lets people in Christchurch know that no matter where we are in the world, we care about them.”

The link to the Trade Me site for the auction is:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Cycling/Shoes-apparel/Shortsleeved-tops/auction-357559509.htm