Jacinta Joan Gray (née Coleman, 17 July 1974 – 27 June 2017) was a New Zealand

road cyclist Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

who represented her country at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

and the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Early life and family

Born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on 17 July 1974, Gray was the daughter of Brian and Sandra Coleman. She married Australian cyclist

Jay Sweet Jay Sweet (born 11 August 1975) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racing, racing cyclist who won a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He accepted a road cycling scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport and in 19 ...

and they had one son, but later divorced. In 2009, she married James Gray, and the couple had two children.

Cycling

She took up cycling at the beginning of 1995, and made rapid progress in the sport. Gray rode for New Zealand in the women's road race at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, finishing in 10th place. In the women's individual road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Gray finished 18th out of 57 starters.

Death

Gray died from

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

on 27 June 2017.

References

1974 births 2017 deaths Cyclists from Auckland New Zealand female cyclists Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of New Zealand Cyclists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand women {{NewZealand-cycling-bio-stub