It was a tough lead in to this years World Championships with some uncertainty and circumstances outside our control heavily impacting our preperations. In spite of this, we were thankful to be able to get on the plane to Rio and have another opportunity to race, a crucial event in continuing to stake our claim for one of the precious Paralympic quota spots up for grabs.
(Building speed into our flying 200m. Photo credi: SWpix)
With a talented Australian team and fewer female quota spots available compared to our team size these World Championships were an important competition for us all.
It was a wonderful outcome winning 2 bronze medals in the 1km Time Trial and Tandem Match Sprint and absolute heartbreak DNF’ing in the Tandem Team Sprint.
In our qualifying race, the womens tandem completed the first 500m of the race with a 1.4s lead to the next fastest team, anticpating our mens tandem to come flying past us to complete the 750m, instead we turned to see them hit the deck hard. Both men recveived injuries but will be ok in time. A terribly unfortunate mechanical and a tough experience for our whole team.
(Post race feels! Photo credit: SWpix)
These World Championships were a strong reminder that despite your best efforts there are significant elements of preperation and performance that remain outside of your control that can impact you heavily. We’d like to think all our bad luck has been used up for the year!!!