Katherine's Story
Kate Bates started cycling at 10 years of age. Bates made her debut for Australia at the age of 16 at the 1999 World Junior Track Championships in Greece where she won a silver medal in the 2000m individual pursuit. Bates won junior world championship silver medals in the individual pursuit and the road time trial in 2000, topped the 2001 track world cup rankings and was crowned 2000 Australian Junior Woman Cyclist of the Year and 2001 Australian Female Cyclist of the Year. Bates won one gold and one silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games before she returned to Greece for her Olympic debut.
At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Bates finished fourth in the individual pursuit 3000m and eighth in the points race. Bates competed in the points race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, finishing sixth, and raced in the road race but did not finish the event.
