Is this the end of Anna Meares? Robert Craddock looks at the case

IF sportsmen’s decisions on retirement rest on messages from their bodies then Anna Meares may be finished after her greatest physical assets – her legs – had their say on her future.

It had not happened once in a 22-year career but yesterday, poignantly, it did – the coalminer’s daughter ran out of coal.

If sportsmen’s decisions on retirement rest on subtle messages from their bodies then cycling great Anna Meares may be finished after her greatest physical assets – her legs – had their say on her future today in her last ride of the Rio Olympics and perhaps forever.

Those pumping pistons have driven her to greatness but today something switched off.

“For the first time in 22 years my body ... I could not get any more out of my legs,’’ she said.

Anna Meares breaks down with coach Gary West after her Olympics came to an end yesterday. Picture: Adam Head

She didn’t have to. After four Olympics and six medals they had paid their dues and more and deserve to be resting on a couch rather than whirring like a blender on a bike.

Meares 10th place finish after a three-girl ride-off in the sprint was an inauspiciously odd place to finish on a day which showcased her two contrasting sides – the lioness and the lamb.

The soft side of Meares was evident with the way tears flowed several times on what could be her final day as an Olympian. Even during the lunch break a hug with a British coach saw her tear up.

But there was telling insights into the mind of the hard-edged track warrior she has always been.

Australia's Anna Meares competes in the women's sprint.

She was beaten into second position in the ride-off from ninth to 12th and the stern look on her face on the warm-down lap showed that even that little result stung.

“I prepared for that race as if it was for the Olympic gold medal,’’ Meares said.

“It is pretty brutal. I blew it but it is pretty unusual riding from ninth to 12th. The competitor in me finds it hard to accept that is the way I end my campaign in Rio.

“I know this isn’t the result on an Olympic level. It has been really nice the kind words that come my way. That people want to get up at a ridiculous time to watch me in a ninth to 12th final.’’

The sight of her great English rival Victoria Pendleton arriving on her bike never once ruffled Meares.

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But the sight of her arriving with a tissue in her hand was simply too much to bear.

Both women broke down in tears then shared a 10 minute chat in which their engagement level was if there was no one else at the venue as Pendleton stood on one side of a fence and Meares sat in her bike in the media interview area.

It was as long as they had talked in four years when their epic rivalry was the talk of the cycling world.

But the war was over and the ice of bygone years has long melted away.

Bronze medallist Australia's Anna Meares poses on the podium after the women's Keirin finals track cycling event.

Yesterday all guards were down as they stood beside each other as two champions who, as much as anyone in the sport, knew what the other was thinking.

“She sent me some lovely messages this week,’’ Meares said of Pendleton who is now a commentator.

“It was really lovely. She said she would not even say anything because we were both very emotional. As much as I try and convey what this is like there are few people who truly understand and she is one.

“Our respect for each other has grown enormously.’’

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Originally published as Is this the end of Anna Meares? Robert Craddock looks at the case