Three words – preparation, execution, resilience.

I had the privilege of being in a room to hear Anna Meares speak with about 25 other people on Sunday 7th October. Being in such an ‘up close and personal’ environment was an experience I will never forget. Anna really brought her ‘whole self’ to the event, and shared openly and candidly about her experiences as an elite cyclist.

Anna and her sports psychologist Georgia Riddler spoke about working together before the 500m time trial at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. This was Anna’s first Olympics, and Georgia came to the training track in Adelaide to do a visualization exercise. Anna closed her eyes while Georgia set the scene about what it would be like on the starting line on race day. When Anna opened her eyes, she could see the colours of the Athens crowd, hear the noise and feel the excitement, even though she was in the empty Adelaide velodrome. Her coach Marv, who knew it would take an Olympic record to win in Athens, said ‘last rider at the Olympics, 34.1 to beat’, and Anna’s mouth was dry, legs were shaking, and her hands were so sweaty she had trouble gripping the handlebars. When she did a standing start, it was the worse she had ever done in training – almost a second slower than normal in a race that is clocked to the thousandth of a second. Anna continued to practice with the same imagery every time she got on the bike from then until the Athens Games.

As it turned out, on the day of the women’s 500m time trial at the 2004 Olympics, the second last rider, Jiang Yonghua of China, rode the fastest time of 34.112 seconds, with one rider left – Anna Meares of Australia!! Marv said to Anna ‘last rider at the Olympics, 34.1 to beat. Anna talked about the immense calm that came over her at this time, as this was exactly what she had prepared for. She went out and rode a new world record time of 33.952 seconds, becoming the first woman to break the 34 second barrier. When she spoke about it, she said that there was no way she would have been able to execute the race plan to become the Olympic Champion without the mental preparation.

Anna Meares has shown massive resilience throughout her cycling career. In 2008 she was involved in an accident on the track during the Keirin final in the Los Angeles World Cup final. She came within 2mm of being a quadriplegic due to a fracture of her C2 vertebra. Seven months out from the Beijing Olympic Games, she had to be in a neck brace for 10 weeks, which allowed about 4.5 months to get in condition for the Games. During that vital time after her accident, she only surrounded herself with people at the time that they were being positive. She said that the setback gave her the opportunity to find her strength and character, and that her focus and level of desire increased. She went on to win silver in the sprint in Beijing.

Anna’s performance in the final of the Keirin in London 2012, a disappointing 5th, made her question everything she had done in the lead up to the Games, including whether she really ‘wanted it enough’. In the days between the Keirin and competing in the sprint, Anna said she allowed herself to feel the disappointment, and then drew upon the positive energy from her supporters. In the final of the sprint, she stuck to her game-plan against her arch-rival, British cycling queen Victoria Pendleton. You see, Anna and her coach had figured out the weakness of Victoria, who had won the sprint in the Beijing Olympics as well as at 6 World Championships, including 2012. Victoria had never developed the ability to stand still for a long period of time on the bike. Given this, and the fact that Victoria’s strategy is to use her speed to come from behind and overtake her opponents in a sprint, Anna executed her strategy perfectly in the final in London. She stood still on her bike, forcing Victoria out in front, and before you knew it, Anna was overtaking Victoria in the back straight and won the gold medal.

So many lessons….. where do I start?!?!?! Anna’s mental preparation for Athens was brilliant. Her resilience showed through in her recovery in 2008 and in the final of the sprint in London. She executed her race plan to perfection in the sprint final, just days after one of the biggest disappointments of her career.

Now it’s time to look at your own journey, and consider how you might bounce back after the setbacks that will no doubt come your way. Are you mentally prepared for the challenges you have ahead of you? Do you want something so badly that you will do whatever it takes to get it? Have you visualized what success is to you, and will you hold that image in your mind until you get it? I hope so!!

Amanda :-)

P.S. You can check out some of the articles and footage of Anna Meares here:

Anna Meares blown away by British cycling queen Victoria Pendleton: http://ow.ly/etqbS

Cycling track women’s sprint final London 2012 – youtube video: http://ow.ly/etqiv