Eight gold medals: this Aussie team is back baby!

AUSTRALIAN cycling legend Anna Meares says the experience gained by Australia in the track program at the Commonwealth Games will set the team up nicely for Olympic redemption in Paris.

After claiming just one track cycling medal – a bronze – at the Tokyo Olympics, the lowest total from the velodrome since 1980, Australia won eight gold medals from the Commonwealth Games track cycling program in London. That put Australia and NZ on top of the medal table.

Meares, a general manager for the Australian team in Birmingham, said the performance was a good building block for Paris in two years’ time.

“Paris I think is going to be a really exciting Games,” she said.

“Especially after the prolonged run-in to Tokyo and the tight turnaround for these Games. A lot of these athletes are used to those two-year cycles to allow the come-down period and the ability to come back up.

“I think a lot will come away from this with some really good experience at racing at a high level in a good competition, in front of a big crowd and under pressure. Those are things you can’t recreate.”

Meares, Australia’s most decorated Olympic cyclist with six medals to her name and five Commonwealth Games golds, said the experience in London would be invaluable for the younger riders.

“In speaking to the young guys and girls who have never done a multi-Games before, who have never been in front of a crowd here before, it was really daunting for them,” she said. “You could see early on that some of their eyes were pretty wide and they were unsure about the feelings that come with an event like this and it has been wonderful to see how they have advanced through the days.

“Covid hasn’t helped in terms of being able to race in front of a crowd and it has been phenomenal to be back here.”