Alison Shanks

Alison Shanks (born 13 December 1982) is a retired New Zealand professional racing cyclist. She specialized in individual pursuit in track cycling and individual time trial in road bicycle racing. Prior to her cycling career, Shanks played for over five years as an Otago Rebels netballer. She began her cycling journey in 2005 and quickly achieved success. In the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she finished fourth in the pursuit. Shanks went on to participate in multiple World Championships, improving her ranking to seventh in 2007. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she placed fourth in the Individual Pursuit after a defeat in the bronze medal match. Shanks set a new personal best in the semifinals by defeating Sarah Hammer of the United States.