Cyclist Anna Meares surrounds herself with champions as she goes for gold in Rio

FLAGBEARER Anna Meares has promised to try to stop and smell the roses in Rio just as she has in her preparation.

Anna Meares practices during a track cycling training session at the Rio Olympic Velodrome.

FLAGBEARER Anna Meares has promised to try to stop and smell the roses in Rio just as she has in her preparation, which has included regular cups of tea with Olympic great Marjorie Jackson-Nelson who is one of her mentors.

The pair are separated by 52 years in age but are united by the special bond of both winning two Olympic gold medals – Meares in 2004 and 2012 and Jackson-Nelson in 1952.

‘The Lithgow Flash’, who is a national sporting treasure, is part of Meares’ inner-circle that also includes their mutual friend Marg Ralston, former Opals coach Jan Stirling, tennis coach Roger Rasheed, her own coach Gary West and manager Francine Pinnuck.

“Marg Ralston and Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, they call themselves my two old aunties,” Meares said.

“And through my Port Adelaide Football Club connections I spend a lot of time catching up with Roger Rasheed and Jan Stirling.

“It’s really nice to have well rounded, balanced, focused, passionate people willing to tap in and soundboard things with you.

Anna Meares practices during a track cycling training session at the Rio Olympic Velodrome.

“They’re from different walks of life and they can give you a different perspective or something to think about, or they can reiterate where you’re at with your headspace or the direction you’re taking.”

Jackson-Nelson won athletics gold in the 100m and 200m at the Helsinki Olympics and is a former Governor of South Australia.

Now 84, she said she relished the chance to catch up with Meares when they were both home in Adelaide and she plans to sit up through the night to watch her carry the flag and compete in Rio.

“We catch up for morning or afternoon tea,” Jackson-Nelson said. “And I leave messages on Anna’s phone wishing her all the best, but she doesn’t need any more motivation.

“I don’t have a computer so Marg (Ralston) communicates what I say to Anna on email.

“She epitomises everything that makes not only a great Olympian but a great human being, she deserves all the accolades that come her way and knowing Anna like I do, she will accept it all with great humility.”

Meares, who is just days away from carrying the Australian flag in the opening ceremony of her fourth and possibly final Olympics, said since London in 2012 she had tried to cherish the moment of competing as well as trying to win.

“I’ve been doing that (soaking in the atmosphere) since London (2012 Olympics), I go to world championships and try to take it in, I take more photos than I have in the past,” Meares said.

“(At an Olympics) the stress is high, anxiety is high, nerves are high, it’s almost like you’ve constantly got a layer of sweat on your palms because the clock is ticking.

“You get there, you race, zip, zap, boom, you’re home and you go ‘what the hell just happened?’

“I think I’ll try to take it (Rio) in because I don’t know if this will be it or not.”

But that sentiment is not to be confused with going to Rio to wave goodbye or do a lap of honour for the 11-time world champion.

“You know me, I don’t settle and be satisfied, I can’t just roll in and collect a tracksuit, it’s not in my mentality, I go into races to win them,” said Meares who will ride the team sprint with Stephanie Morton, the sprint and keirin.

Making the Rio Games even more special for Meares is that there have been moments in the past 18 months in particular she feared she might not be going at all. There have been challenges with injury, form and personal anguish to overcome just to make it to the start line.

“In a way that’s been good for me because I’ve really had to fight and work hard and earn it, I do appreciate that,” Meares said.

“I think sometimes people can forget that it is hard for me, I’m not that far ahead of everyone that it is a given for me.

“I have to go through the same processes, the same stresses and selection battles as everyone else and I think sometimes that can be forgotten.”

Originally published as Cyclist Anna Meares surrounds herself with champions as she goes for gold in Rio