Six days before a major Olympic Games selection trial in March, Penrith-born cyclist Amanda Spratt was hit by a car during a training ride in Italy. While not badly injured, the Olympic hopeful feared her Rio dream was over.
“My first thought was that I had done some serious damage to my body but I soon realised that I was very lucky and fortunate that my bike took most of the impact – snapping in three places,” Spratt told the Weekender from Europe.
Fortunately for the 28-year-old she was able to recover fast thanks to great support and treatment from her team and the Australian Institute of Sport.
“I was actually back racing and training relatively quickly… however the time off and the build back to peak fitness actually took a lot longer than we had anticipated,” Spratt said.
“I’m very thankful to my coach Gene Bates who has done a really great job in getting me back to top fitness just at the right time.”
Last week Spratt used the last four months of training and rehab to her advantage when she qualified for her second Olympic Games.
The Penrith Cycling Club member, who represented Australia back at the London Olympics in 2012, said she’s looking forward to competing in the 130km Women’s Road Race event on August 7.
“It’s an honour and dream to represent Australia at an Olympic Games, and it just feels as it did the first time,” Spratt said.
“I think this time around I’m a lot calmer about the whole selection process and now I feel a lot calmer and more confident heading into my final preparation phase, and about the race itself.”
To give Spratt even the slightest of edges on her competitors, she visited Rio in May to inspect the Olympic road race course, to know exactly what she’s in for.
“Our road race is on the second day of competition so we are fortunate that we will be able to spend some days to really relax and enjoy our time there,” she said.
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.
