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Shanaze Reade - Thanks for the Support!
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I wanted to update my website when I was out in china that didn’t quite work out what with going to bed really early and then wakin at 5 am didnt really leave me much time to hit the internet cafe up .
I want to start this update off by saying a huge huge thank you to all my supporters out there , I can not believe just how many cards, flowers, emails, text meassage and calls from people I’ve received - its been unbelievable . Without you guys it would be really hard to pull through this but with each message I read seems to make me stronger.
I am writing this with the mixed emotions of having been part of one of the greatest sporting events in the World, which was an amazing experience, but not coming back with a medal hurts me a lot more than my bumps bruises cuts and torn hamstring! My preparation had been good, in practice I was starting really well and I couldn’t wait to race hard and fast for the Gold that I had set my heart on.
Time trials came around and I went into the first turn faster than I ever had before because i wanted to set the fastest lap and let the girls chase it but, as you all know now, I ended up sliding out through no fault of anyone’s but my own ! Since racing the test event the turns have become a lot more chewed up and it made it hard to come off the turns. Crashing in my first lap around the track knocked my confidence but didn’t effect my will to win! I was placed 2nd for the next time trial , this lifted my confidence as I was really cautious but confident in the knowledge that I was still placed 2nd overall .
On the race day i started to feel more recovered from my crash in the time trial and I was ready to take on the huge challenge I had wanted for so long. I was leading the first race with ease but fell going into the first turn. As I lay on the floor with my legs shaking because I had hit the nerves in the bottom of my back I knew for me to get up from this crash it was going to make life tough ...and guess what it did! I was in a lot of pain going in to the final but I wanted to win so badly that I tried to blank out the agonising pain I was going through. I led the final coming out of the gate but because of my fall in the time trial I drifted out going into the first turn as I tried to take it a bit more cautiously. I have now learnt now that in the Olympic games you don’t win doing anything cautiously, you have to go at 110%. I got passed by Anne-Caroline but no doubts ever set in at the moment that she had passed me to take the Gold away I carried on the fight and went for a do or die move into last turn. Unfortunately it didn’t pay off and I ended up crashing again. Hindsight is an amazing thing (and an exact science!) which we don’t have the benefit of in the heat of competition, but I have no regrets. I went to the Olympics wanting to win a gold medal and gave it absolutely everything I had, but this time it didn’t pay off.
The Olympic Games is where dreams come true! Unfortunately mine didn’t this time around but I am going to carry on my fight in London 2012 . Things happen in life for a reason I have always believed that , and this time round it was obviously not my time to become the Olympic Champion. You can rest assured that I will be doing everything I can between now and London to realise my dream and to get that fairytale ending I have always wanted . I have a few injuries right now, mainly a torn hamstring, but I’m recovering well and while it’s a tough lesson to learn I am confident I will come back a better competitor because of it.
I have to say a huge congratulations to all the Team GB athletes who won medals, next time round I want to be one of them.
Thanks again everyone for your support and times like this you see who your real friends are
Shanaze x
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