Caroline Buchanan ready to right the wrongs of London 2012 and win gold in Rio

CAROLINE Buchanan described missing a medal in 2012 as the worst thing that ever happened to her; a big call given her family lost their home in a bushfire and her brother broke his neck.

Caroline Buchanan is confident of winning a medal in Rio

CAROLINE Buchanan was heartbroken after missing the BMX medals at the 2012 Olympics and despite everyone’s best efforts to cheer her up it took a stern word from seven-time surfing world champion Layne Beachley to allow her to move on.

Buchanan was the fastest qualifier for the women’s final in London but missed the start and finished fifth.

She described the disappointment as the worst thing that had ever happened to her, which was a big call given her family once lost their home in a bushfire and her brother had broken his neck in a BMX race.

Four years later the painful memories are still fresh in her mind, but psychologically she has moved on and is ready for redemption in Rio.

At the time definitely when I crossed the line in London it felt like there was nothing else in the world that could be worse than that moment

Buchanan

“At the time definitely when I crossed the line in London it felt like there was nothing else in the world that could be worse than that moment,” Buchanan said.

“Losing my house and everything you own in the bushfires was easier to shake off than making that mistake in the Olympic final.”

That’s where Beachley stepped in. The retired surfing pro had supported Buchanan as a junior and was in London as an athlete liaison.

“Shortly after the Olympic final everyone was telling me ‘great job’ and in the moment she was the mentor who told me how it is,” Buchanan said.

Caroline Buchanan is ready to right the wrongs of London

“She said to me, ‘You won’t make that same mistake again’.

It gave me the ownership to take what happened on board and move on the following years.

“It also gave me the confidence that I do have a second crack at the Olympic Games, learning from my mistakes and the belief that you can do it was massive.

“She’s (Beachley) a great mentor and we still stay in touch quite frequently.”

The only time the 25-year-old from Canberra has looked back since is to see her rivals left in her dust on her way to winning world titles in 2013 and 2016.

Caroline Buchanan of Australia celebrates after winning a gold medal in the Elite Womens Time Trial Race

Buchanan has come a long way since the 17-year-old who was too young to compete in Beijing in 2008 and earlier this year got a reminder of her journey when she watched herself in a documentary about first-time Olympians in 2012.

“It was pretty surreal listening to myself — I sounded like a little girl,” Buchanan said.

“As an athlete and a human, four years later I’ve progressed a lot and I owe a lot to what happened in London to my ongoing successes afterwards.”

Acknowledging what the sport has given her has inspired Buchanan to start her Next Gen program, which supports young female BMX riders make it to world titles and, hopefully, follow in her footsteps to the greatest sporting event on Earth.

Originally published as Caroline Buchanan ready to right the wrongs of London 2012 and win gold in Rio