Nettie Edmondson - Olympics Selection - Cycling

Details

Category: Annette Edmondson

Matt: Congrats on getting selected to represent Australia at the 2012 London Olympics

Nettie: Thank you!

Matt: Has it sunk in yet that you are part of the team and off to your first Olympics?

Nettie: Not quite! As I’ve had a pretty crazy couple of years, I’ve been taking everything one step at a time, focusing purely on the next goal ahead, whether it be making a team or getting a result. At the moment this just feels like I’ve made another team, but I know that by the time we walk into that stadium, it’s going to hit me like a steam train!

Matt: 2 years ago, you had stopped riding all together and then decided to come back and give it another go but changed from sprints to endurance, all that pain and sacrifice must be worth it for this shot at Olympic Gold?

Nettie: Absolutely. To make the Olympics has always been a dream of mine, but I really didn’t have it so soon on my to-do list. When I came back into the sport I had one goal, to push myself to a place I’d never been before. I wanted to be the best, and also see what I was personally capable of. I wouldn’t call it sacrifice, I’d like to think of it as ‘decisions I make to help me achieve my goals’. If I wasn’t enjoying the rewards cycling has to offer then it would be called sacrifice, but at the moment the returns from cycling are so rewarding these decisions don’t take long to make.

Matt: It is going to be a family affair with younger brother Alex also making the team, must be good to see him make the team?

Nettie: It’s incredible that Alex has made the team too! I don’t think that many first-year seniors could make an Olympic-cycling team these days, so for him to be able to step up into the senior ranks and blend in so well amongst the stronger, more developed males in the endurance squad is pretty unbelievable.

Matt: So it must have been all the cockroaches you feed to him when he was a baby that helped him?

Nettie: Haha maybe! Must have had something to do with it!

Matt: Now you know you are in the team, what is training going to consist of?

Nettie: Training is going to be very similar to our schedule before the Melbourne Track Cycling World Championships in April. The track endurance women have been getting faster and faster so we know that we are on the right track and that what we are currently doing is working. We are in a big road training block at the moment, but as we get closer and closer to the games, the road rides will decrease in quantity and the track sessions will start to ramp up.

Matt: What 5 songs would we find on your Ipod?

Nettie: Well I like a range of music, so it could possible confuse a few people if they went through my ipod! If I’m out training by myself I enjoy a lot of oldie-style tunes, like “Rich Girl” by Hall and Oates or something by Queen. I also have a lot of today’s ‘hits’ and use dance or pop music- like something by Timbaland to help me psyche up before a race.

Matt: If we were to go through your wardrobe what piece of clothing would we find that you would class as the most abstract?

Nettie: The most abstract things you could find in my wardrobe could possibly be an old dancing costume which I’ve stored for more than 10 years... or possibly the bright green sari I was given by one of our good friends in Malaysia.

• < Prev
• Next >