Champion sprinter Anna Meares has regained the ‘eye of the tiger’, says coach Gary West

AUSTRALIAN track cycling coach Gary West says the “eye of the tiger” has returned to champion Anna Meares one month out from the Commonwealth Games.

CYCLING - Australian Cycling Grand Prix at the Adelaide Super-Drome. Anna Meares takes off in the Women's Round 2 Keirin Heat. Photo Sarah Reed.

AUSTRALIAN track cycling coach Gary West says the “eye of the tiger” has returned to champion sprinter Anna Meares and the rest of his stable is flying one month out from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

On Friday night he watched his emerging young stars Matt Glaetzer and Stephanie Morton win the men’s and women’s sprint at the International Track Series in Adelaide, which followed Meares’ fighting win in the keirin the night before.

When he got home late on Thursday night, West spoke to Meares and told her he saw glimpses of the dual Olympic gold medallist’s best.

“I had some dialogue with her late last night after we both got home and I saw glimpses of the old Anna Meares — the eye of the Tiger, the preparedness to chase Steph (Morton) down and that was very impressive,” West said.

“I saw some signs, I saw that clarity, that calmness, that athlete that wanted to go out and make a statement.

“Some people night not have seen it, but I saw it and I was very impressed.”

West said the outstanding results of his sprinters this week meant he was closely monitoring their workload with the ITS series continuing today and tomorrow.

“All of our guys will be super fatigued in the early part of next week, they’ll be eating their food out of a straw,” he said.

“But we anticipate, based on our knowledge and research, that we’ll get a strong bounce in three or four weeks’ time from this competition.

“We’re using this as a really big physical stimulus, emotional stimulus and psychological stimulus five weeks from the Commonwealth Games.

“She’s (Meares) done more work in the lead up to this event than any of our athletes and very, very deliberately so.

“Physically she’s very good, her highs and peaks are a little bit off simply because of the workload but when she starts to unload training those peak powers and speeds will start to jump up.”

In Friday night’s racing, Glaetzer set a scorching 9.999secs in 200m qualifying then beat Japanese rider Tomoyuki Kawabata in straight sets in the cat-and-mouse final.

The 21-year-old jumped from one bike length behind and had to clinch the first heat in the home straight but in the second he led from go to whoa and when he lit it up, Kawabata had no answer to his acceleration.

West said Glaetzer was a “fast learner” and was grasping the tactical “plays” and skills required to win match sprinting.

“Two years ago he could string three or four races together in 10 in a world cup or world championship, now he’s stringing together eight or nine out of 10,” West said.

“His ability and his knowledge of what it is we’re trying to execute is very sound. He understands it, he buys into it and he implements it.

“There is still more things we need to do, but he is making really big in-roads and he is working really hard.

“He’s mirroring Anna in a lot of senses, in terms of the work he’s doing and execution, he is becoming a master class sprinter.”

With Meares given Friday night off, Morton produced a huge effort in the final of the women’s sprint to beat reigning world championship silver medallist Tianshi Zhong of China in three heats.

Significantly, Morton lost the first heat and fought back from 0-1 down to produce a powerful burst of speed in the third and deciding race to claim victory which West described as “enormously powerful”.

“Whenever you lose the first ride and have to come back and win the next two to get on the top step, that’s an enormously powerful message that you send to all your opponents,” West said.

“It says ‘I’m not going to lay down, I’m not going to roll over’, I’m here to win and I’m here to compete and that’s what made me so pleased about Steph tonight.

“That’s what I said to her - the fact that you lost the first one, you challenged yourself and were able to come back and knock out the girl who ran second in the world this year is a remarkable effort.

“And that’s very powerful psychology.”

The only injury concern in the team is Shane Perkins’ back strain but he will do a road ride on Saturday morning before resuming training next week.

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Originally published as Champion sprinter Anna Meares has regained the ‘eye of the tiger’, says coach Gary West