AusCycling is pleased to announce the athletes categorised as Podium, Podium Ready, Podium Potential and Representative for 2026 in the Olympic disciplines of BMX freestyle, BMX racing, mountain bike cross-country, road, track and the Paralympic disciplines of para cycling.
The AusCycling categorisation framework contains 87 Podium, Podium Ready, Podium Potential and Representative categorised athletes for next year, along with athletes categorised as Emerging or Developing from the 2025/26 Emerging and Developing categorisation announcement in May.
Additionally, three para cycling athletes and a tandem pilot have been newly categorised as Developing outside of the normal cycle.
Athlete categorisation is a system used to identify, track, and prioritise talented athletes with the greatest potential to contribute to Australia winning medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
World Championships and Commonwealth Games are viewed as key benchmark events on the path towards the Olympics or Paralympics.
AusCycling follows the National Athlete Categorisation Framework (NACF) developed by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
This framework categorises athletes across five stages, from Emerging to Podium based on their current performance and future potential.
To support the HP2032+ Strategy vision, ‘We Win Well to Inspire Australians’, National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) also have the option to recognise athletes in a Representative category who have been identified as having the potential to be selected to represent Australia for benchmark events in the current Olympic Games cycle and contribute to a Podium or Podium Ready outcome.
This Representative category will be used for the first time by AusCycling in 2026 to categorise eight athletes.
Athlete categorisations – January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026
Podium
BMX Freestyle
- Natalya Diehm – QLD
- Logan Martin – QLD
BMX Racing
- Izaac Kennedy – QLD
- Saya Sakakibara – NSW
Road
- Ben O’Connor – WA
- Jay Vine – QLD
Track Endurance
- Blake Agnoletto – VIC
- Oliver Bleddyn – SA
- Conor Leahy – WA
- James Moriarty – QLD
- Kelland O’Brien – VIC
- Liam Walsh – QLD
- Sam Welsford – WA
Track Sprint
- Danny Barber – NSW
- Ryan Elliott – QLD
- Leigh Hoffman – SA
- Alessia McCaig – VIC
- Molly McGill – QLD
Para Cycling
- Gordon Allan – NSW
- Grant Allen – SA
- Korey Boddington – QLD
- Alistair Donohoe – VIC
- Alana Forster – VIC
- Jessica Gallagher and Jacqui Mengler-Mohr – VIC/QLD
- Darren Hicks – SA
- Meg Lemon – SA
- Tara Neyland – VIC
- Erin Normoyle (Rowell) – VIC
- Lauren Parker – NSW
- Kane Perris and Luke Zaccaria – WA/WA
- Emily Petricola – VIC
- Amanda Reid – SA
- Michael Shippley – QLD
- Caitlin Ward – VIC
- Alex Welsh – QLD
Podium Ready
BMX Racing
- Lauren Reynolds – WA
- Teya Rufus – QLD
Mountain Bike XCO
- Rebecca Henderson – ACT
Road
- Georgia Baker – TAS
- Neve Bradbury – VIC
- Brodie Chapman – QLD
- Sarah Gigante – VIC
- Kaden Groves – QLD
- Jai Hindley – WA
- Michael Matthews – ACT
- Luke Plapp – VIC
- Michael Storer – WA
Track Endurance
- Thomas Cornish – NSW
- Josh Duffy – TAS
- Sophie Edwards – SA
- Claudia Marcks – ACT
- Maeve Plouffe – SA
- Alyssa Polites – VIC
Track Sprint
- Kristina Clonan – QLD
- Chloe Moran – SA
- Liliya Tatarinoff – NSW
Para Cycling
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie – VIC
- Beau Wootton and Byron Davies – SA/QLD
Podium Potential
BMX Freestyle
- Alec Danelutti – QLD
- Samual Grace – QLD
- Sarah Nicki – QLD
BMX Racing
- Jesse Asmus – QLD
- Jordan Callum – WA
- Jack Davis – NSW
- Isabell May – VIC
- Joshua Jolly – VIC
- Oliver Moran – NSW
- Sienna Pal – NSW
Road
- Felicity Wilson-Haffenden – TAS
Track Endurance
- Sally Carter – WA
- Rohan Haydon-Smith – QLD
- Wil Holmes – SA
- Keira Will – NSW
Track Sprint
- Tayte Ryan – SA
- Sophie Watts – QLD
Para Cycling
- Sharon Boyd – VIC
- Emma Mickle – VIC
- Kyle Willis – QLD
Representative
BMX Freestyle
- Brandon Loupos – QLD
Road
- Lauretta Hanson – VIC
- Ruby Roseman-Gannon – VIC
- Nick Schultz – QLD
- Amanda Spratt – NSW
- Harry Sweeny – QLD
Track Endurance
- Alexandra Manly – SA
Track Sprint
- Kristine Perkins – WA
The next round of Podium levels and Representative athlete categorisation will take place in late 2026.
The next round of Emerging and Developing athlete categorisation will take place in April 2026.