Australian track cyclist Anna Meares has been officially named as the flag bearer and team captain for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games opening ceremony, and there is no question she is the right person for the job.
The announcement, which won’t come as a surprise to anyone given Meares is one of the best track cyclist of all time was made on Wednesday Morning in Federation Square, Melbourne by Australia’s chef de mission Kitty Chiller.
Meares has a decorated history at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, winning a stack of medals and being a very consistent performer for Australia, meaning she was an obvious selection.
» Australian Olympic team
» Full Olympics events schedule
Her Olympic Games career started all the way back in the Athens Games of 2004, where she won gold in the 500-metre time trial ahead of Jiang Yonghua. The fascinating thing about this, Meares’ first Olympic gold medal, was that it was a world record, and she had to break it to win.
Yonghua, who rode before Meares, set the world record in a time of 34.112. Meares finished in 33.952. At just 20 years of age, it elevated the Australian to the top of the track cycling world.
Also in 2004, she would win bronze in the sprint, where 700 metres are ridden but only the final 200 metres are counted as part of the time. Meares was the fastest in the heats, then won her quarter-final, but would fall to Lori-Ann Muenzer in the semi-final.
In the bronze medal race, Meares would defeat Svetlana Grankovskaya, making it two medals in her first Olympic Games.
Come the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and Meares realistically shouldn’t have even been competing after crashing during the world championships. She would fall at speeds in excess of 60km/h, suffering a fractured c2 vertebra, as well as a dislocated right shoulder, torn ligaments, tendons and skin abrasions.
The accident could easily have paralysed or killed Meares.
She was back on the bike just ten days later, and due to her incredible performances had a high enough position in the rankings to qualify.
She couldn’t win a gold medal in Beijing, but still managed to win the silver medal in the sprint event, the same event she won bronze for in Beijing with what was one of sports great comeback stories.
Four years later in London she would add to her gold medal collection, finally winning the sprint event ahead of favourite Britain’s Victoria Pendleton.
She would also pair with Kaarle McCulloch to take the bronze medal in the team sprint, sitting her Olympic Games medal tally on five.
Besides her Olympic record, where she is the only Australian women cyclist to win two gold medals ever she has won an incredible 26 medals across 11 world championships, with 11 of them being gold. Her best world championships came in 2011 at Apeldoorn where she won three gold medals in the keirin, sprint and team sprint.
Meares has also won seven medals at the Commonwealth Games, with five of them being gold making her one of Australia’s greatest ever track cyclists.
Meares is being rated a solid chance of adding to her gold medal collection at Rio as well. Victoria Pendleton, who was her key rival in 2012, is no longer riding, but the Australian will still need to improve from the world championships held in London during March.
25 year-old Kristina Vogel will be Meares’ key rival, after winning gold in the keirin at the world championships, while the Chinese duo of Zhong Tianshi and Junhong Lin are favourites in the sprint event.
The Australian undoubtedly has the potential to add to her medal collection at Rio 2016, but for the time being there is no questioning her instalment as Australia’s flag bearer for the upcoming opening ceremony, something that is a huge honour and completes a checklist on her Olympic Games career.
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
Olyroos coach Tony Vidmar is refusing to put a line through Nestory Irankunda's hopes of playing at the Paris Olympics after claiming he is…
The 2023-24 NBA season promised so much for the Australian contingent - for a few it’s been the ideal runway to the Paris Olympics…
Basketball superstar Lauren Jackson has been included in the extended Opals squad for the Paris Olympics, despite announcing her retirement from the international scene.…
The Brisbane Olympics stadiums fiasco has had wild twists and turns in just the last few days, but we still might not have seen…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
