Anna Meares kisses her gold medal after winning the London 2012 Olympic Games women's sprint final. Photo: AFP
Not satisfied with the most memorable of triumphs at the London Olympics three months ago, Anna Meares has committed to another four-year campaign.
The champion track cyclist's quest to win gold medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016 will begin in January.
After receiving the highest honour in Australian cycling – the Sir Hubert Opperman medal – in Sydney last night, Meares said she planned to spend November and December “wearing trackies, gardening, and annoying my husband”. But by early in the new year, the Olympic sprint champion will be plotting a course designed to have her peaking again at the end of the next Olympic cycle.
Meares, who first won Olympic gold and bronze medals as a 21-year-old in Athens, then claimed silver in Beijing in 2008, before winning gold in the individual sprint in London by defeating her arch rival Victoria Pendleton this year and a bronze in the team sprint, will be 33 by the Rio Olympics.
“I knew within a couple of weeks that I still have that desire, I still have that passion, and while that desire and passion is still there I want to follow up on it,” Meares said after being judged the Australian cyclist of the year, the elite female track cyclist of the year and the people's choice cyclist of the year.
“I'm really excited because I wanted to go through to Rio. I just didn't want to make that call (straight after London) in case it wasn't the right feeling around those Olympic Games.”
Since returning to Australia and hitting the speaking circuit, Meares said she couldn't remember the precise moment she knew she wanted to do it all again. But she suspects it might have coincided with her husband, Mark, telling her that she needed to go out and expend some energy.
“I've been running and walking to try to burn off some energy, and I've been dabbling in the gym a little bit,” she said.
“Other than that I've been enjoying cycling in different scenes. So I'm going cyclo-cross riding with Mark, I'm going out on the mountain bike, which is totally different stimulus to what I'm used to.”
Meares plans to resume training with her Australian teammates and coach Gary West on January 2.
“That will give me five months, which is quite a significant break for a sprinter in particular. But I'll miss this year's worlds (world championships) obviously because of the length of break that I've had, so I won't actually be racing until this time next year through the world cup circuit … that will be a 10 or 11 month preparation for that next season.”
Twitter: @SamJaneLane
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