"Anna Meares is a super-hero of mine ... the tenacity she has always displayed ... she's one star lady."
- Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates
With her chin split and the remnants of her helmet resembling an egg shell stuck to a freshly hatched chicken, six-year-old Anna Meares gave an inkling of her courage when she stood up after a horrific crash at the national BMX championships and spat out chunks of broken teeth.
Meares, who is preparing for her fourth Olympic campaign, recalled the incident when she was asked where her drive to constantly beat the odds - and her opponents - stemmed from.
After all, Meares is the two-time Olympic champion who has defied horrific injuries and heartache during her 22 years in the saddle. She overcame the brutal reality that to become the world's best she needed to first defeat her sister Kerrie, a Commonwealth Games champion. Years later, she competed at the Beijing Olympics months after a crash left her two frightening millimetres away from paraplegia - or worse.
It appears Meares' destiny was revealed that morning 26 years ago when the daughter of a proud coal miner proved on a BMX track she possessed the "right stuff".
"I crashed over the first jump in one of the early rounds and broke my helmet," recalled Meares without any trace of a wince. "I split open my chin and broke three teeth, the back molars in the top left hand side.
"I screamed and I remember I wouldn't let the medical staff touch me until dad arrived. I said 'dad, I've got sand in my mouth' and he said to spit it out. I spat out three pieces of teeth.
"After I got cleaned up he said if I got back on the bike he'd buy me a new helmet. Then dad said 'if you win I'll buy you the biggest Easter egg you can find!' I got back on the bike, got the new helmet and if I didn't get the biggest Easter egg, I definitely got the most expensive one."
Still got it: Meares celebrates her 36th national title in February. Photo: John Veage
As the defending Olympic champion heading into Beijing, Meares needed to summon that same spirit seven short months after the infamous crash in Los Angeles when she broke her neck during a sprint race.
She remembers instant pain; a blur of colour and lapsing in and out of consciousness. Then-coach Martin Barras recalled seeing her head trapped in the protective netting on the inside of the track, her arms on the side and upon seeing no movement the fear that "this is not good".
Ten days later - with a cracked neck vertebra, torn neck muscles, shoulder tendon tears and hip bruising - Meares was hoisted on to her bike by a rig.
The exhaustive one minute she spent pedalling signalled the beginning of an Olympic fightback that reduced tough coalminers from her Central Queensland hometown to blubbering messes when she won what is hailed as Australia's gutsiest silver medal.
Now, as she prepares to compete at Rio de Janeiro, that old gumption has again kicked in after what she calls a "private challenge" - the breakdown of her marriage last year.
She told the media at the time how the breakdown impacted terribly upon her confidence; she'd lost the all-important value in herself and what she was doing. After considering quitting the sport Meares eventually appreciated there was nothing wrong in being passionate about something she loved.
Frenemies: Meares with Victoria Pendleton after the women's sprint final in London. Photo: Vince Caligiuri
Meares, who defeated hometown hero and arch rival Victoria Pendleton to win gold in London, paused when asked if Rio was the most important of her Olympics.
"The lead-in has been the most challenging, I'll definitely say that," she said. "It's hard to rate one against the other, every competition - especially the Olympics - is important and you never underestimate the difficulty to get there, the difficulty to compete and to be competitive.
"This is different to any other campaign I've been on. Is it important? Absolutely. I have dedicated myself for so long to this sport. I've worked so hard, I've had huge challenges professionally and privately and I'm still here. I'm still swinging."
Meares was identified by Optus to star alongside Jamaica's Usain Bolt in their advertising campaign leading into the Games because they believe she embodies everything it means to be a champion. Yet, amid her swirling story of pain, triumph and sacrifice it almost seems crazy that after all she's endured Meares was "an emotional mess" last Christmas as she searched the streets of Adelaide's suburbs for Bruce, her 10-year-old beagle.
"I was mortified when he went missing," she said. "I don't have kids so I refer to him as my 'furry son'. I've had him since he was eight weeks, he's the first dog I've ever owned - mum and dad would only ever let me have a goldfish - and I didn't understand why people got attached to animals.
"I learnt they to understand they have a character; a loyalty. Bruce has been with me through some hard times. When I had my accident in 2008 I could only lie on my back for the first two weeks and he laid on my chest the whole time.
"Whenever the medical staff came and put me on the medical table he'd just sit there. He was so protective and the company he provided at an emotionally draining time was huge. When I come home from a race I haven't particularly done well in he doesn't care, he's just happy to see me. He provides so much happiness in a world that can sometimes be weighed down by pressure and standards."
Woman's best friend: Anna Meares with her beagle, Bruce.
As Meares scoured the streets Bruce was in the cold and choppy waters of West Lakes before being saved. The cyclist is grateful for the kindness of a fisherman, Evan Hanias, and his family who rescued Bruce.
"I was touched by them," she said, trying not to think about what could have been. "They dragged him out of the lake and they drove him half an hour to a vet on Christmas night. It says a lot and I took them out to dinner as a thank-you."
Meares faces a series of challenges in her fourth Games.
Firstly, she has to beat Stephanie Morton and Kaarle McCulloch to qualify for the Australian team. She then has to take on the might of the Chinese, Russians and Germany's Kristina Vogel - a foe she describes as a "standout performer, who is incredibly crafty and skilful".
"What's changed between London and Rio is the quality of depth and athletes has increased," she said. "Where quarter-finals and semi-finals were [the time] when you'd be tested we're now at the stage where you really have to be on your game for the first round.
"You might have had two, maybe three women riding at 11 before London, now there's 10 or 15. It is so much more competitive."
But, as the six-year-old girl who spat out three bits of teeth before riding on to receive the biggest Easter egg in Central Queensland, you can't help but think that mighty Meares would have it no other way.
