Rules set by the Union Cycliste Internationale ( UCI ) , the world governing body for sports cycling , stipulate that mountain bikers must be at least 19 years old in the year Olympic Games are held to be allowed to compete . Cooper was outside of that requirement by eight months for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London . BikeNZ , New Zealand 's national governing body of cycle racing , sought a dispensation for Cooper but this was declined . New Zealand was given one quota place for a male mountain biker for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , with the general expectation that either Gaze or Cooper will be chosen . Cooper 's 2016 World Cup races were upset by him developing chronic fatigue , with him first recognising symptoms in February 2016 . In June 2016 , the Rio selection was thus awarded to Gaze , and it caused Cooper some " really dark weeks " . Cooper suspended his 2016 campaign and returned home to New Zealand from his Northern Hemisphere summer base in Germany . In August , he underwent surgery on adenoids that are giving him problems . Ahead of the 2017 national championships , he lost access to his bike once more as he had been evacuated from his Westmorland home due to the 2017 Port Hills fires , but Police let him through the cordon to retrieve all he needed to travel to the competition
2017 Port Hills fires
2017 Port Hills fires
Anton Cooper