Meares and Morton, friends and foes

We all knew that Australia’s track cycling star Anna Meares would be one of the athletes to watch at the Glasgow Commonwealth games.

Her performances over the years have become the stuff of legend. From her battles with English rival Victoria Pendleton, to her comeback from a broken back, to her ability to leap tall boxes in a single bound, Meares has long since captured the sporting public’s imagination.

Indeed, her appeal is such that she is now widely recognised outside of her field, crossing over from being just a cyclist to being a genuine sporting identity. In essence, through her stunning efforts on the bike and her endearing attitude off it, she has wriggled her way into the Australian sporting consciousness.

We all know who she is and we all know what she is capable of.

So, when she lined up for the final of the women’s sprint event at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome against lesser known countrywoman Stephanie Morton, many thought that it was just regulation that Meares would add a second gold to her Glasgow medal haul.

Many casual supporters didn’t even know who Morton was. They were unaware that the 23-year-old had beaten Meares in the keirin at the Australian track cycling championships back in February. They were unaware that in the 2013 nationals she claimed the keirin, the individual sprint and the team sprint.

They were unaware that at the 2012 London Paralympics she piloted visually impaired teammate Felicity Johnson to gold in the tandem one-kilometre time trial and earlier that year, to two golds at the UCI para-cycling track world championships, claiming the one-kilometre time trial as well as the tandem sprint.

And most were unaware that, five years ago, as a wide-eyed junior, Meares had signed a cap for her, complete with the message, “Steph, maybe one day you’ll beat me.”

And now she has!

Morton only needed two attempts in the best of three final, leading from the front and holding off Meares on both occasions. It was an ominous performance. On one hand there was joy that the young South Australian had picked up another gold for our track team, but on the other hand there was also some consternation that Meares had been beaten.

Had Meares’ golden era come to an end? Was there going to be a retirement announcement?

Hell no. Rumours of Anna Meares’ pending demise have been greatly exaggerated, and rather than letting one loss at a major event spark a gradual slide into mediocrity, she is already focused on her preparation for the Rio Olympics in 2016, and hasn’t completely ruled out the 2018 Commonwealth Games which will be held in her home state of Queensland.

That Morton will be pushing her all the way will be an advantage. For someone as motivated as Meares, the extra competition will be welcomed, not shunned, ensuring that she stays on task and leaves no stone unturned in what will be her last Olympic journey.

For Australia it means a rivalry that, if marketed correctly, could be a real crowd puller. But those wanting a rivalry with a bit of spice, such as the one Meares had with Pendleton, will be severely disappointed.

Meares and Morton are training partners and firm friends. They rode together from the games village to the velodrome for their sprint final and they rode back together afterwards.

When Morton stopped halfway around her victory lap to hug her parents, Meares stopped as well. There is no animosity.

Speaking after the race Morton said, “I train with Mearesy everyday. I see her more than my own family. We hardly talk bikes when we’re not at the velodrome and back at the room. We’re ‘Anna and Steph’ that are friends off the track and ‘Anna and Steph’ that compete against each other. We’re really lucky that we can switch on and off like that.”

And we are really lucky to have them. They will go a long way to ensuring that Australia’s love affair with track cycling continues to prosper, and who knows, when the next generation of wide-eyed juniors look at collecting autographs, it might just be Morton providing the motivational messages.