Monday, September 1st, 2008

The 2008 Beijing Olympics,What an unbelievable experience it was to attend such an event as the Olympic Games. You grow up as a kid watching all your heros competing and winning on the television. Now I was apart of it and it was just to much to take in at the time. I sit back now and take in everything that happened over those two exciting weeks in China and will give you a little insight to my Olympics campaign. Every day I got closer to my event I added one more butterfly to the stomach. I arrived at the athletes village. It was massive. I could not see the other end of the village it was that big. Thousands upon thousands of athletes and staff were inside and I think this was the point that told me I was part of the biggest sporting event in the world and it was something special to be inside the village. 

Our apartments were great and I shared a room with Graeme Brown. All the previous Olympians said that this was the best village ever and I have to say it would be hard to beat. The dining hall was so big and the food was top notch with a great range to pick from. Buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner made it hard to keep your eating in order. I had ridden on the Velodrome that we were going to compete on before back in December of last year at the World Cup event. I finished third in the Points race that time so I had no fear coming back to this venue. It was a first class stadium and looked worth every penny that is must of cost to build it. I had four track training sessions on the Olympic boards in the week leading up to my event. I felt really good in all sessions and was showing form of being a major contender in the Points Race to come.

The day came, 16th August 2008. I had a good sleep, went and had a nice breakfast and then began my pre start on rollers 7 hours before my event. The pre start is a 50 min ergo session to simulate a points race heat. We found over the World Cup Series that I perform much better in the Final after a good hit out in the heat earlier that morning. The Olympics was a straight out final so we came up with an ergo session that would touch all the zones that I would if riding a points race heat. The session went well and I felt good. A quick hour nap, my pre race meal 3 hours before the event and onto the bus heading for the velodrome. I did my warm up and was ready to race in the biggest race of my life. My whole year had been focused around this 40 minute race and so to perform bad you could imagine how disappointing it would be. 

The first half of my race went really well. I didnt score many points in the first 5 sprints and so I attacked and dragged 4 other blokes with me. We were out their for two sprints of which I took fourth in the first and won the next. We took a lap on the main bunch and this shot me up to second on the leader board. 60 laps to go and still in second. I was in for a shot of a medal. The next 60 laps was the hardest and fastest 60 laps I have ever done. The multiple World Champion from Spain Joan Llaneras, ripped the race apart and won in style. I finished a respectable fourth.

I have mixed emotions about my result. I am happy as I am only 20 in my first Olympics and this is a great result but when you are so close to a medal you cant help but feel disappointed. Also I finished fourth at the previous two World Championships so to come in this horrible position again was not the best. I feel hungry tho and in a way finishing fourth in three major events in a row has made me see where i have to be to get onto the podium and how hard i want to train to become a World Champion and Olympic Champion.

I had the best life experience at the Olympics and one that I will never forget. I look forward to hopefully competing in London 2012 and standing on the podium. Thanks to my Mum, Dad and sister who came to Beijing to watch me perform. Also to my coaches, support team and everyone who has helped me along the way, thank you so much.