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Date:
04/07/04
Subject:
INJURY ENDS KERRIE MEARES
BID FOR ATHENS - CYCLING AUSTRALIA MEDIA RELEASE
April 6, 2004 Injury ends Kerrie MEARES bid for Athens Queensland sprint cyclist Kerrie MEARES, 21, today confirmed a back injury has ended her bid for Olympic selection in 2004. MEARES, who claimed dual gold at the Manchester Commonwealth Games and numerous medals in World Championship and World Cup competition, has been advised by doctors to take a break from training and racing or risk further damage to her back. “I’ve been suffering from a lower back injury for the past year and it’s been getting worse,” said MEARES who has withdrawn from the Olympic Shadow Team. “I have three bulging discs and if I keep training at high intensity it could result in permanent damage.” MEARES, who has won the sprint at the National Championships for the past three years, believes the injury is the result of two crashes she suffered in 2002. She went over the handlebars and landed on her tailbone at the Moscow World Cup and later that year suffered a similar crash in Devonport during the Tasmanian Christmas Carnival. “I am obviously disappointed and frustrated but I am still in high spirits and am now putting my focus on next year’s World Championships, the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the Beijing Olympic Games,” she said. “I’m still young and this setback has just made me more hungry to achieve my goals.” MEARES younger sister Anna, 20, remains in contention for an Olympic place and can expect strong support from Kerrie. “I’ll be pretty ‘dudded’ to not be there but excited as well to see how Anna and the other Australians perform and I’ll be cheering them on.” She says the one positive aspect is the fact the problem has been identified. “Last year I was having problems but didn’t realise what was wrong,” she explained. “ I kept thinking ‘what is going on here?’ because I was getting progressively slower. “I thought I was doing something wrong or not training hard enough because I was missing a lot of core strength I should have had,” she said. “I knew I had some pain in my back but I trained through it and I didn’t really focus on the problem until I experienced some serious pain in my back.” She is undergoing intensive physiotherapy and regular scans to monitor the healing process. “It’s taking a very long time to heal but if I do the right thing and be patient I’ll be back on track within six months.” “I’d also like to thank the Australian Institute of Sport, Queensland Academy of Sport, Multiplex, Bolle, Las Helmets, Polar and Ian Weigh Motors Toyota for their support of my career so far and I look forward to repaying them with even better results after I overcome this injury.” |