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The build up to an
Olympics I thought would be full of hype, hard training days
and anxiousness. With this being my first Olympics I didn't
really know what to expect, as I had never represented
Australia at the pinnacle of my sport. I did however know that
I had the best teammates and support staff around me to ensure
I had a great experience regardless of the result.
On the 5th of July the women's track endurance and sprint
squad travelled to LA for our Olympic staging camp. We were
based in Manhattan Beach a lovely area in So Cal (South
California) about 1km away from the beach. We decided to head
to LA as the track was very similar to that of Rio - that
being long straights and tight bends. We find that every track
is a little bit different and not having a track in Australia
that was like this we thought it was a perfect opportunity to
go to LA.
It was also similar time zone to Rio and that travel time from
LA to Rio was definitely less than flying from Aus to Rio. Our
camp in LA was really great, we were treated to some beautiful
weather and no word of a lie we had blue sky, temperatures
above 25 degrees every single day. The morale in the group was
very high and training was going well with PBs not only on the
track but in the gym as well. By the end of camp we were all
in a great headspace ready for the final phase.
On the 3rd of August we were off to the Olympic Games, after
years of hard work it was now time to put the final pieces
together and go after that gold medal we'd all be
striving/dreaming for. When we were walking through Houston
airport to board our flight down to Rio, we were stopped by
people asking to have a picture with us. It was this moment
that I took a step back and said "wow I am off to the biggest
sporting spectacle in the world" millions of people tune in to
watch the Olympics worldwide and I was about to represent my
country in this spectacle. After an overnight flight to Rio we
had a good chance to rest before hitting the ground running
and had our first day at the Olympics.
It felt very surreal standing at the entrance gate into the
village, collecting my accreditation and can't forget to
mention a key card to swipe at the numerous fridges with water
and soft drink that was available throughout the village. We
were given our keys to our new home for the next couple of
weeks. My roomie was fellow debutant Georgia Baker, we were
like kids in a candy store when opening all of our suitcases
full of clothes. We were overwhelmed by all the Adidas and
Sportscraft clothes we received and not to mention our
vegemite tube with our names on it.
After a couple of days being in the village we had settled in
nicely. Despite all the media attention that the village was
getting back home in Australia we were finding our room pretty
good. I think it was a good thing we came to the village later
as they ironed out all the cracks before we arrived. There
were a few things we had to adapt too whilst living in Rio…
putting toilet paper in the bin was a hard habit to break as
we were so used to just dropping it down the toilet. However
this was a must or else we would end up with a blocked toilet.
The use of bottled water for brushing teeth was also a
necessity, as we didn't want to get sick. We did have cold
showers for first few days only to have it fixed by
maintenance people. Funny how if you plug things into where
they are meant to go they work!? Go figure. This was the case
for our hot water system.
Training was going great as a team and every day on the track
we were confident that we could do something special come race
day on the 11th. Sunday 7th of August was the turning point of
this whole Olympic campaign it was also the start of our race
pace efforts. We began the session on the Le Monds for warm
up. It began to feel like competition was just around the
corner, and it was. The first effort was a standing 10lapper
and I was off the back for this effort. Things were looking
good in the effort and we were on schedule until the
unthinkable happened. We clipped wheels and all but Nettie
crashed heavily. I was last to fall as I was sitting just off
the back and tried to avoid it but couldn't. I hit the track
hard and slid a fair distance.
I laid there for a moment and everything was silent for a
moment until I was back with it and heard Mel yelling out in a
fair bit of pain. It sent chills through me as I lay there on
my side not being able to lift my body up off the ground
knowing that my 3 teammates were lying injured as well. I knew
straight away I had done something to my shoulder and was
hoping I didn't break my collarbone. We all got up and hobbled
back to the pits except Mel who was being stretchered off into
an ambulance where she was taken to hospital for x-rays on her
hip.
Amy and G had nothing broken just very bruised parts of the
body, I had done my AC joint and bruised my sternum and ribs
and thankfully for Mel she had broken nothing but had a large
haematoma on the left hip and struggled to put weight down.
She hobbled with crutches back into the room where we all gave
her a big hug and assured her that everything was going to be
ok. It was not the best timing but we had 4 days til race day
and this was the time where we had to do the one percenters right more
than ever.
The next day we were sat down by Macca and Sutto and Macca
said we were to go back out on the track and show that we were
not down and out but still ready to give it our all come race
day. This wasn't just any race it was the Olympic Games and we
certainly weren't going to throw in the towel and accept
defeat. We were battered and sore but it was good to be back
on the track doing what we do best. Aussies are known for
their strength and I think we certainly showed that.
Race day came quick and I was not lining up for the first
qualifying round. We were all in good spirits before the race
and ready to have a great ride. The girls had a great ride and
qualified third behind Great Britain and the Americans with
Canada finishing fourth. This meant our next round was up
against America who had a six second buffer over us. We had
never been so happy to qualify in third, after all that had
happened in the lead up to this day and for us to manage third
was great.
A day between each of the qualifying rounds meant that we had
another day for us to recover that bit more from Sunday's
crash. We turned up on Saturday mid morning ready to ride our
own race and realistically aim for that bronze medal ride off.
Again I was not riding in this round but was 100% behind the
girls to put together a great ride. Unfortunately things
didn't go to plan and we were pushed down to fifth after the
NZ girls who were fifth in the first round out qualified us.
We were now no longer in the hunt for a medal. We were all
absolutely shattered. The dream of winning a medal was out of
the question now. But we had to regroup and finish off
strongly to claim that fifth place. We had a couple of hours
to chill at the village before heading back out to the track
for the final. Sutto came up to me and said that I would be
given the opportunity to ride the last round and I was excited
to say the least. I was about to live my childhood dream of
representing my country at an Olympic Games and also having my
whole family in the crowd cheering me on. Our final place was
fifth, not the result we were hoping for but we did our best
with having a big crash days out from this competition.
What made this so special to be apart of an amazing team was
we all went home after racing and sat down and spoke together
about how proud we were of each other and the special bond we
had made with each other. We were like sisters and we got
through all the hard times together because we had each others
backs and were willing to fight and push ourselves to breaking
point for each other. We were able to reflect on our result
and time leading up to the games but after that night we were
to leave it.
Tomorrow was a new day, the sun was shining and we were all
still able to smile and move on. The rest of my time at the
Olympics was really enjoyable, I made so many new friends and
got to experience being a spectator and watch different sports
at an Olympic Games.
It was one heck of a journey I travelled and I was on an
emotional and physical roller coaster for months leading up to
the games. I know I wouldn't have been able to do it without
the support of my teammates - Amy, Georgia, Mel and Nettie,
our coaches Gary Sutton and Ian McKenzie all the support staff
from Cycling Australia and certainly my family and friends
back home. It is something I truly will never forget. |
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