Kamloops mountain biker wins female athlete of the year

After a banner season, Kamloops mountain biker Catharine Pendrel has been chosen in an online vote as the female athlete of the year by canadiancylist.com.

The website polled hundreds of people through an online survey to find out who they thought should win the annual award.

'Did the best I could'

"You're always hopeful but I knew there are so many great performances, but certainly I did the best that I could do this year," said Pendrel.

"It's nice that I was recognized."

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Pendral met with hugesuccess this year. She took home a bronze medal at the Olympics after coming back from two separate crashes. The mountain biker also won her third overall World Cup title.

"You can always get better. I definitely still have lots of goals. Every race I go in, I'd love to win," she said.

Next, she aimsto stand on the podium at the world championships in September in Cairns, Australia.