Jill Kintner

Are you all healed up from your injuries and surgeries?
I'm doing great. I did need another surgery on my wrist to reconstruct a ligament after the worlds but it is all healed up now.

All the pins out??
No I still have a plate and nine screws in my wrist and they have to stay there for at least a year while it heals properly.

What have you been doing then for the past couple of months then?
I was in a cast for eight weeks so no riding, so I got a job working at a cafe in town. Mate, there is nothing like working for 10 bucks an hour to motivate you to train harder! I'm back riding now which is great and we' ve just started our national series here in New Zealand.

Is Racing bikes your full time job??
It is at the moment. I never really think of it like a job though.

You seem to have a lot of fun and not too much drama riding for Dirt Magazine, will you continue with that crew for 07 and beyond?
I have had so much fun riding for Dirt for the last three years, Mike, Steve and Alex are like my family and I know they feel the same way about me. For 07 however I'm going to race for MS-Intense. These guys have been running the Intense factory team since the start of 06 and are really passionate about the sport so I couldn't be happier about riding for them and Jeff at Intense again.

Wow, that's cool, congrats!!! Get to stay on your trusty baby blue M3 machine?
Thanks, I might end up on a factory red machine yet, but I'm not worried as long as its an Intense.

What is your schedule like?? MS intense is focused on europe??
We start with Sea otter and then move onto the world cups. In between these we will do a few smaller races as well as crankworks and maybe even a norba or two so it should be really good.

Will Les Gets be your Summertime base again??
The team has something sorted out in Austria for us but I think I will spent part of the summer over in europe in Les Gets/Morzine, then it will be back to NZ for our summer...got to love that!

Will Dirt still have a team?
Yes, they will. Mike said they are going to support a couple of up and coming UK riders, one is a real little ripper so watch this space!

Where are you living now??
I live in New Zealand in a place called Tauranga. It's about an hour from Rotorua, where the 06 worlds were held. It's a coastal town with a really nice beach so we spend a lot of time there.

I was pretty stoked to see your picture on billboards in New Zealand for the Worlds.
It was a surprise to me to see all the posters and the billboard, but I was stoked. I have known the organisers for a long time so I did feel really honored they had used me in the advertising.

Was there tons of PR work involved with being the hometown hero??
It was all pretty low key to be honest. Because I was injured I think the heat was off me and everyone just let me get on and do the best I could. The kiwi team was massive (over 70 riders) so there was a lot of us to choose from when it came to PR and Bike NZ, our national federation, made sure to spread the media load for sure.

Mountain biking is big over there in NZ. Are you a national Celebrity?? I read an article about you on the plane two years ago coming back from oz and was pretty impressed. Air New Zealand hooked you up proper.
I guess because we are only a little country all our sports get coverage, not just the mainstream ones and if anyone does well overseas, you generally hear about it which is not the case in bigger countries like the States and the UK so its pretty cool like that.

The past year has brought a lot of changes for you? What have you discovered?
06 was a good year all things considered, I dont know if I have discovered anything but I do think you have to enjoy your life and make the most of it.

Is there one thing in particular that you love about hauling ass downhill??
I dont have a great attention span when it comes to many things, but for whatever reason downhill has kept my attention for nearly a decade so I think I just love everything about it. The tracks change from week to week and the people are all really cool. I love to race or ride just for fun.

How did you get started with bikes??
I started racing BMX at 11 and downhill at 19. I was a late starter on the mtb front but I picked it up pretty good in the end.

What did you do before that??
I went to university before I started racing overseas, I have an arts degree majoring in history...I'm actually a bit of a geek, but dont tell anyone!

Have you ever been a privateer having to struggle, work on your own bike, drive to the events, camp, etc??
We still do all of this here in New Zealand every year during the national series, its the norm, so I've never felt like I've struggled but I have done my fair share of road miles across the US and Europe over the years. It is good not having to do this anymore for sure.

Was there anyone who inspired you to go all the way to the International level of World Cup racing??
I think John Kircaldie and Nathan Rankin were the first guys from here to race downhill overseas that I really remember so I decided to give it a shot as well. I meet Toby Henderson in the first month I was in the States and he gave me a ride on Giant USA and asked me if I wanted to do this for the next ten years, and I said for sure...I had no idea at the time that this would actually happen! So I have to thank Toby for giving me my first break in the international ranks, without his support I would never have kept going.

Did your parents encourage you in sport?
For sure they have always supported me

Any brothers or sisters??
I have two brothers and we all used to race BMX. It was a great way to grow up and I learnt a lot from them

Your most ambitious dream?
Break into the FBI and CIA headquaters and read about all the secrets they have covered up over the years.

Favorite place in all of your travels??
Colorado and California I love. All the little mountain towns we visit in Europe.

Favorite rider?
AC Chausson...she was a total legend.

Thanks for the interview, good to hear from you!!!

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