| My most successful Commonwealth Games |
Well it has been a very full on couple of months since the Delhi Commonwealth Games and since my most successful Commonwealth Games campaign in my thus far 16 year career winning 3 gold medals I have managed to keep that momentum rolling. The Delhi experience was an eye opener and I had a lot of fun. My first race was the 500m Time Trial where I broke my own Commonwealth Record to win the gold medal. The next day Kaarle and I teamed up to win my second gold medal of the tournament in the team sprint setting a new Commonwealth Record along the way. The team sprint was a new event at this level and the numbers were low but still it is great to be involved in a sport that is still evolving creating more opportunities for women. After the team sprint it was onto Sprint qualifying and I was fastest in 11.030 seconds breaking Victoria Pendleton's Commonwealth Games record from Melbourne 2006. I progressed well through the rounds eventually finding myself up against youngster Becky James from Wales in the final. Becky is only young but she has a great racing mind and a big heart and the two can make for a very dangerous opponent and I wasn't disappointed. After winning the first round against her she tied me up in knots in the second and I really had to fight to win in a photo finish. To end up with 3 gold medals and 3 Commonwealth Records was more than I had expected but I was pleased to take it and see results of hard work paying off. I departed Delhi very quickly not from concerns of safety but for a very special group of kids back in Adelaide. I am an ambassador for the little heroes’ foundation and they support kids with cancer. Before I left for India I painted a picture of the moment I won gold in Athens to be auctioned off on August 10th with other paintings made by the kids in their art therapy program. The funds were to raise money for the program so the kids could continue to benefit from it. I got special permission from the ACGA (Australian Commonwealth Games Association) to depart early ahead of the team to make the auction in time. I flew home 24 hours, flights were delayed in Melbourne but I got home to Adelaide with enough time to shower and have lunch before heading to the auction. It was packed and we got so much media interest out of it too which always helps the foundation. My painting that day raised $4500 and all up when the kids’ paintings sold we raised more than $10,000 in total. Money which is much needed and will go to good use. I had a wonderful day as did the kids and their families and friends. We had face painting, cupcakes and entertainment. The optimism of these kids and their outlook on life is so humbling and grounding and if they can go through the challenges they do and still be so happy, then I know I can to. We had a couple of days off upon returning home from Delhi and I was kept busy. I attended the St John Bosco Primary School Mission day with my team mates Jason Niblett, Scott Sunderland and Daniel Ellis, I was guest speaker at the SA police Women’s forum and the SANFL Coaches conference both of which I thoroughly enjoyed, I gave my time on McHappy Day to raise money there, I Skype called a class from rural South Australia and I did an interview for the kids show cybershak. I was also so honoured by the Adelaide Bite Baseball team to be invited to throw the first pitch at one of their games. I was very nervous about this as my throwing skills are far below that of my cycling skills. I had some help from the pitching coach Wally and on the night made it to the catcher’s mitt. I had a ball meeting the guys and coaching staff and then enjoying the game of which the boys won! My performances this past year also put me in the running for a number of sporting awards. I was nominated in the Women sport Qld sport awards and I won the people's choice, I was also nominated in the Queensland Sport awards and the AIS (Australian Institutes of Sport) Athlete of the year and team of the year but unfortunately missed out there, but I had much better luck in the SA sports star of the year awards being crowned the award winner. But it was soon back into training in preparation for the races to come this season. Unfortunately when I was returning my empty bike box to the velodrome I hurt my back. It is funny how something so simple can injure me when I can squat 130kg. I was unable to stand and walk for 4 days and I slowly got back on my feet. It was concerning for me as the Oceania Championships and the Melbourne World cup were only just around the corner. When my back settled and I was able to walk and stand I slowly got back on the bike but I was not able to take any weight which meant no gym. But at least I could ride and so for the 4-5 weeks leading into the next two major races of the season, that was all I did. After a week my back settled very well and we stayed clear of the gym. Riding was working and working well so we were going to be sticking with that and not jeopardising anything in the gym other than doing abs and upper body work. And before we knew it the Oceanias Championships were on us. I competed in the Sprint and the Keirin and given the weeks leading up I was pleasantly surprised to have such good times and races. I was as a result very much looking forward to the Melbourne world Cup only a week later. The team headed across to Melbourne and racing started on Dec2nd. It was one of the biggest fields for a world cup ever seen with almost 400 riders from all around the world lining up for those all important Olympic Qualifying points. I raced in the Sprint, 500m Time Trial and the Keirin. It was a big two days. Day two was the Individual Sprint competition and I qualified fastest over powerhouse sprinters Shuang Guo of China and the world champion and Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton. I qualified in 10.985 seconds. A huge Pb for me but the time also broke the Australian and all comers’ record. I was shocked, my coach Gary West was shocked and asked where that had come from to which I replied, "No Idea" with a big smile on my face :) It was something that I needed to do. To start qualifying consistently fast and up in the qualification order to allow myself the best match up run through the rounds. Previously I was qualifying down the order and having very difficult round races. This time it was different. I defeated Emily Rosemond of Australia in round 1, Olga Panarina of Belarus in the quarter finals, Kristina Vogel of Germany in the semi finals leaving the match up I wanted. A race with Victoria Pendleton in the final. This was the Olympic final rematch but this time the result was turned as I came away with a 2-0 victory. Something I haven’t achieved in many years and I was so thrilled to get the win. After having such a high on day two, getting some sleep that night was tough not only from the high of the victory but also the aches of the body from a solid day of racing. Tossing and turning made for a shocking night’s sleep but I only had to get through one early round of the keirin before heading back to the hotel for a nap and luckily for me it went to plan. I slept all afternoon in preparation for the 500m final and keirin semi and final that was on that night. The 500m saw 18 girls line up and the challenge I thought would come from Sandy Claire of France and Lee of Hong Kong. It turned out that the three of us would fill the podium. Sandy was in the second last heat and posted an extremely fast time of 33.6 seconds having ridden an 18.9 second lap. I was up in the same heat as Lee. This was going to hurt. I started and started well. I drove home like I know I have done in the past and crossed the line. After looking up to the board I had taken the win from Sandy by less than 0.1 seconds. I didn't know but I was down at every check point along the way until the finish line. I was able to hold on just that little bit better than Sandy. She is going to be a big challenge come the world titles for the World championship jersey. Lee rode a 33.9 seconds to claim the bronze medal. A great ride to her. With the 500m out of the way it was down to the keirin. I progressed well through the semi to the final and the last race of the tournament for me was proving to be difficult. I was tired. I was hurting in the legs. But this is a world cup and there were Olympic points on the line, I had to keep going. I drew one and got the motorbike from the get go. I bumped the gear up knowing it was going to be long and hard. With 2.5 laps to go the bike pulled off and a raised the speed slightly at points around the track. Then the challenge came from Clara Sanchez of France. She got half a bike over me at the bell. I knew if she passed me there was no way I could get back around with only 250m to go. I dug deep and fought hard and through the bend where I had the inside run meaning I had to cover less distance saw me gain half a bike length on her of which I held all the way to the finish to claim my third gold of the meet and the maximum points on offer to qualify for London. It was a great feeling to win but even better to know I was finished. The weekend in Melbourne was topped off the next night having been awarded for the 6th time the female elite track cyclist of the year for 2010. This season has been a ripper thus far. 3 gold in Delhi, 2 gold in the Oceania Championships and 3 gold at the Melbourne world Cup. Oh how I would love to keep this gold streak going. I will continue to train as hard as I can to try my best to do so. For me the next race will be my home carnival of the Rocky Cup in January which I am very much looking forward to. That is followed by my Mum's 60th birthday which will be a great family celebration. I then have the Nationals, Manchester World Cup and then pen ultimately for the year, the world titles in Holland in March. Let the good times roll. Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed my latest update. Anna
|
