Rio Olympic upset

Amy Cure, Australian processional track cyclist and St.LukesHealth Brand Ambassador.

I often get asked about my disappointment from the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The feeling of settling into the village was great; receiving all our clothes and getting to train on the Olympic velodrome. It was something very special, training was going very well until 3 days out from competition. We were involved in a training crash at 60km/h that left three out of us four girls battling from hematomas, bruises and a lot of missing skin. We were all a bit shaken up, but at least we walked away with no broken bones. 

Soon enough it was time for racing, we managed to qualify in third position. We were very happy with this, considering our crash. After qualifying, we had one day off before the first round, and finals. Every day counted for recovery after that nasty crash, we felt considerably better every day. I was so happy with how we pulled together as a team in these circumstances; we stayed positive throughout. 

We raced the United States in the first round, USA qualified five seconds faster than us but we really felt we could improve a lot more. However we didn’t cute back our time - a massive blow to all of us. We had come so far and now the chances of standing on that podium were out of reach. The team were all so positive up to this moment. I could feel the pain from every member in the team.  It was hard to deal with. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew our fighting spirit wasn’t gone, we had one more round to go.

After the first round we went back to the village to rest up for our final ride later that night. Everyone was so upset and I knew I had to say something. I pulled the girls together for a chat. I didn’t know what to say until it came out of my mouth. It went something like:

“I know I’ve never been good with words or speeches. But I’m so happy with the fighting spirit everyone has shown. What has happened sucks, but we can’t change it. We can only learn from it. I am so happy with every one of the girls here. We have sacrificed so much in our lives to be here, we have been here for each other when we are having a bad day. Sometimes it’s more about the journey than the end result, so let’s go out there, keep our heads high and finish of what we started!”

I didn’t anticipate how the girls would react but there were a lot of tears from us all. I think it was what we needed at the time. We were all sad about the accident and we needed to focus on what was yet to come. In the end, we came home with fifth place.

For myself, I strove to stay positive for the team during the competition.  I blocked out my disappointment and used it to motivate myself more as well as my team.  A few days after racing was over, I started to find things more difficult. The disappointment started to sink in and I only wanted to be around my boyfriend -now fiancé, Anthony. I was very lucky he was also in the village, but he was very busy working with the Belgian team. He is a physiotherapist and osteopath and I couldn’t see him very much. He always knows what to say to me, and when I need him the most. I wouldn’t have been in a good place without him. He has a great way of putting things into perspective.

I always planned to have a long break off the bike after the Olympics. To go back to my apartment in Belgium and spend some well-needed time with Anthony. I started training back in November and soon surprised myself by winning three Gold -Tems Pursuit, Omnium, Madison- and two silver -Scratch, Points- medals in the Oceania Championships in December as well as taking out the National Omnium Championships. 

After the championships were over I returned to Belgium for Christmas and New Year’s, and Anthony and I got engaged. Since the Olympics, life is great both on and off the bike. I’m currently in Adelaide, training for the up and coming Track World Cups held in Cali, Columbia and Los Angeles, USA next month, before the Hong Kong Track World Championships in April.