Christie sorry for victory gesture
New Zealand cyclist Jason Christie has apologised for what appeared to be a middle-finger salute as he won the national road cycling championships in Napier.
The actions have drawn international attention, with Global Cycling Network running footage of the actions as he raised both hands after his weekend victory.
Former New Zealand international rider Julian Dean tweeted an image of Christie after he crossed the line captioned ‘‘Honestly???’’
New Zealand Cycling has interpreted the actions as a form of celebration and Christie denied any malice, saying he held up a finger on each hand to indicate he had now won the title twice.
‘‘I had never intended on portraying the image towards my fellow competitors, when in fact I had thanked them for their incredible rides directly after the event at the podium ceremony,’’ Christie said on his personal website.
‘‘This has all happened in the heat of the moment and in a splitsecond shot and I’m sorry that it has been portrayed this way, it was never my intention.
‘‘I want to publicly apologise for this image of myself that I’m deeply ashamed of. I know there is no excuse for this and I promise to do better next time.’’ He had taken the reaction hard. ‘‘Now would normally be the time that I’d enjoy putting a few words together about the victory. However, the past few days the normal overwhelming feeling that would come with the title has been replaced by a sudden depression.
‘‘It came to my attention that I had drawn a negative light upon myself with a certain hand gesture following the finish of the road race. Since then there have been people quick off the mark to insinuate I had meant something I hadn’t even thought of at the time, let alone known that I had done.
‘‘I’ve looked at the pictures over and over again and I can understand why people think this, because in that one split-second photo that was taken, it does portray an image that is completely different to the emotional feeling I was overcome by.’’
The 27-year-old is hoping his second title in three years will springboard him to selection for the Commonwealth Games.