The former Olympic track cyclist died suddenly at the age of 24 last week.

Podmore's death was confirmed by her family following a concerning post on social media.

HPSNZ chief executive Raelene Castle said Podmore’s death has raised serious questions about athlete wellbeing in the wake of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"Olivia’s death has focused our attention once more on the complex issues surrounding athlete welfare and wellbeing, issues that the system has grappled with across a number of years," Castle said.

"Our priority is to ensure we understand what has happened and what more can be done.

"Understanding something so complex will take time. 

"We also must respect and engage in the coronial enquiry that is underway.

"A joint inquiry is the right thing to do to ensure we take a system view of the issue and are sensitive to all parties affected by this tragedy."

Cycling New Zealand and HPSNZ say the independent inquiry will include an assessment of the adequacy of the changes made in the wake of the 2018 Heron Review into the High Performance Programme of Cycling New Zealand.

The 2018 review was overseen by Michael Heron, which looked into allegations of bullying, inappropriate behaviour, inappropriate personal relationships, a drinking culture, lack of accountability and a lack of follow up.

The review was launched following the resignation of sprint coach Anthony Peden, amid claims he had been in an inappropriate relationship with an athlete.

Heron’s report claimed the culture was "dysfunctional" and noted there had been "instances of bullying".

According to the New Zealand Herald, allegations have been made that Podmore was pressured by Cycling New Zealand to lie to the review in 2018.

Cycling New Zealand and HPSNZ say the inquiry scope and framework will be defined in conjunction with an independent inquirer, who will be appointed shortly.

Full details are expected to be confirmed next week.

Phil Holden, Cycling New Zealand chairperson, said: "We have been listening carefully to the voices of athletes who have spoken out or made contact with us directly.

"The Board of Cycling New Zealand are very clear they want to make sure that those perspectives are built into this inquiry right from the start.

"Given how closely we work with HPSNZ, it is important that all of our individual and joint systems are reviewed concurrently."

Podmore won silver in the team sprint and bronze in the time trial at the Junior World Championships in Astana in 2015 and went on to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

She competed in the sprint, team sprint and keirin events at the Games.

Podmore also competed at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in the three events.

Podmore had qualified for Tokyo 2020 but was not selected.