Kiwi mountain biker Anton Cooper thanked All Blacks great Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford for the inspiration after tearing his scrotum while crashing in the latest round of the cross-country World Cup.
Cooper finished sixth in Canada after crashing on the last lap while he was in a share of the lead with Swiss Mathias Flueckiger.
“Obviously heartbroken to not quite be able to pull it off but I also have to say I'm really happy for my old team mate @mathflueck to get a World Cup win!” Cooper wrote on Instagram.
Cooper also reported that he his body is “in one piece...mostly” while paying tribute to Shelford, who famously played on after having his scrotum torn during a Test against France in 1986.
“I'd also like to thank the Kiwi legend Buck Shelford for the inspiration to make it to the finish line with some torn manhood, nothing a few stitches couldn't fix!” Cooper wrote.
He also gave a special mention in his post to fellow New Zealander and Commonwealth Games agitator Samuel Gaze.
“A rough weekend also for my fellow Kiwi @samuelgaze who binned it in practice and had to sit the race out so spare a thought for him too. I'm sure it could have been a couple of Kiwi's on the podium if things had been a little different.”
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