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Niki Gudex
- 23 - Mountain Biker
Where you’ve seen her.
Niki’s only been competing in mountain biking for three
years, but boy has she made an impact! Ranked number two nationally
in downhill (she was number one last year), one of Niki’s
goals is to promote mountain biking as much as possible. She’s
definitely achieving that. As part time sports model, she’s
exposed mountain biking to the masses by appearing in over
20 print, film and television campaigns for everything from
Vegemite to Fuji film. Feature articles in most major magazines
have ensured she’s the most recognised girl in the sport.
What’s behind the image?
You could say Niki’s gung-ho at attacking whatever she’s
interested in! She’s multi-lingual and speaks English,
Swedish, French and Japanese. Currently in her last year of
studying graphic design, she’s already had her work published
in the super cool New York design mag Neomu. And she’s
a former competitive snowboarder.
Ironically, it was while nursing a broken
back from snowboarding she discovered her love for mountain
biking, but she doesn’t plan on switching back. “I
used to think I was invincible,” Niki says. “Now
I see people snowboarding over road gaps, stuff I wouldn’t
have thought twice about, and it just makes me think I was
crazy! Still, I’ve used what I’ve learnt from injuring
myself to my advantage. Now I know how to progress further
and push myself, yet still stay within my limits.”
There seem to be no limits in her modelling career, not to
say she doesn’t cop grief on the odd occasion. She’s
rocked up to photo shoots and been greeted with surprise because
she’s the real thing. “There’s a whole thing
in that industry, when you see someone in a commercial they
don’t necessarily do that sport. Usually casting agents
have picked out someone that just looks like the stereotype.”
So what about Anna Kournikova who cops backlash
for fitting that photogenic stereotype? “She’s not
the best (tennis player), but she does have ability. I think
a lot of people are just harsh. How many ads would just use
some perfect model? It’s a dedicated life, it’s
not like all she does is get out there and play a game and
then pose for shots. There’s a lot of training and buildup
which people don’t see. I mean, people use all kinds
of things to get publicity. She’s healthy, why not promote
it?”
But stereotypes aside, one thing Niki loves
most about mountain biking and sport in general, is the common
bond it provides. “You know when you were younger and
you saw kids mucking around with a soccer ball? If you wanted
to play soccer, you wouldn’t even think twice, you’d
just walk over and introduce yourself and play a game. But
when you get older, no way would anyone ever walk over to
someone they didn’t know. That’s the good thing
about sport, it’s like it reduces the barriers again,
everyone can just be friends and share something in common.
I think sport is pretty true. It brings out the best in people.”
Profile: Carolyn Ridings. Photographers:
Todd Warnock and Martin Wielecki.
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