Catherine "Cath" Cheatley is a retired New Zealand professional road and track cyclist. She won two New Zealand championship titles in both road race and individual track pursuit, and later represented her nation New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Before her official retirement in June 2012 because of sustained bike crash-related injuries, Cheatley moved to the United States to race for the Cheerwine and pro cycling teams in the women's elite professional events on the UCI Women's World Cup, and UCI World Championships, where she earned the bronze medal for the women's points race in 2007.
Racing career
Amateur career
Professional career
Cheatley made her world championship debut at the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Palma de Mallorca, Spain on 1 April, where she took home the bronze medal in the women's points race, adding to the individual pursuit gold she had won at the New Zealand track championships two weeks previously. Strong and impressive results landed her a spot on the United States' Cheerwine Cycling Team, which signified a start of her professional sporting career. While competing for Cheerwine under an exclusive two-year contract, Cheatley managed her team to "defend their jersey" and dominate the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic circuit title in 2008. Cheatley qualified for the New Zealand squad in two cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by receiving one of the nation's two available berths from the UCI World Cup and by finishing third in the points race from the UCI World Championships. In the women's road race, held on the second day of the Games, Cheatley posted a time of 3:41:08 to successfully complete a gruelling race with a fifty-third-place finish, trailing behind US rider and two-time Olympian Christine Thorburn by a small amount of velocity. The following week, in the women's points race, Cheatley failed to collect a single point from the 10 scoring laps in a 25-km sprint race, finishing well down the field in seventeenth place. When the Cheerwine folded the 2008 season, Cheatley transferred to for two seasons, and then helped her women's cycling team grab an early lead on the first stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic before mounting a second place overall at the final circuit. In 2011, Cheatley won her third road race title at the national championships in Christchurch. Shortly after, Cheatley was seriously injured in the round-the-mountain road crash around Mount Taranaki, suffering multiple fractures of her hip that required full surgery and rehabilitation. In June 2012, Cheatley had officially retired from competitive cycling, and instead, worked on a full-time role as one of BikeNZ's regional development coordinators.
Personal life
Catherine Sell married fellow Wanganui Cycling Club member Dayle Cheatley in April 2006.
