The Anna Meares Story
By Anna Meares

The Anna Meares Story is all about the grit and determination of a young woman who overcame major life-threatening trauma to realise what she had barely been able to dream about.

Olympic track cyclist Anna experienced a career-stopping heavy fall during a time trial at the World Cup in Los Angeles in January 2008, less than eight months out from the Beijing Olympic Games. Falling on the hard, wooden velodrome floor at a speed of 65 kilometres an hour, she suffered a fractured neck, and a dislocated shoulder, torn ligaments. She was millimetres away from permanent injury.

In this updated edition of Anna's story, read how, in March 2011, the Australian Cycling Team, spearheaded by Anna, enjoyed a record breaking week at Apeldoom in The Netherlands, powering to eight gold medals, three belonging to Anna! Finally, at the 2012 London Olympics, Anna took on her arch rival, Victoria Pendleton, to win gold.

Purchase through http://www.newholland.com.au
Released: May 2013

Dr Francine Pinnuck has been managing Anna since 2006 and does so without any financial benefit. Francine is the Director of EFI International and is based in Dubai. She is a passionate cyclist and has worked tirelessly giving back to the sport of cycling, working with a number of international cyclists. The special relationship between Anna and Francine is based on a high level of trust and mutual respect. Francine has worked with Anna to gain sponsors of great integrity and ethics, all of whom are gold medal champions and leaders at the national and international level. Francine has not only been a manager but a mentor for Anna, as being a champion is not just about winning gold medals, it's fundamentally about being a gold medal citizen on and off the track. A typical 500 metre time trial race of Anna's lasts 33.583 seconds, but developing a relationship and being an ethical role model and citizen is a life time duration.

Anna says "the relationship between the athlete and the manager is about understanding one another and honesty. Our relationship is one of honesty and we have a great understanding, respect and deep appreciation for one another and the roles that we each play. If I were to describe our relationship. It is like a team sprint. Each has a role to play even though we are individuals the big picture is that without the two of us working together as a team there is simply no race to contest let alone be won.