After 22 years of strict training routines, meal plans and working with coaches, Anna Meares was frozen by the endless possibilities when she retired from elite cycling in 2016, until she rediscovered her love of art.
abc.net.au/news/anna-meares-painting-and-pottery-after-retirement/101802174Anna Meares was fearless in the velodrome, scrutinised by thousands of people and under pressure to pull off a gold-medal ride.
After decades of strict training routines, meal plans and working with coaches, Meares was frozen by the endless possibilities. Meares has since returned to elite sport as part of the leadership team at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games andBut that first class was a turning point in Meares's personal life post-sport, the catalyst for new friendships and renewed self-confidence."It was hard to start something new because I had expectations – and believed that everyone else had expectations – that I was going to do anything again at the same level I had done in sport," she said.
"The hard part is when you go through sport, and you get to a really high-performance level like I did, where everything was clicking after 22 years, to then go and start a completely new set of skills and hobbies from scratch, was really frustrating and patience is not my best virtue," Meares said."So, it taught me more patience and mindfulness.
"I think that's actually quite powerful for not just what we have in our lives, but who we have in our lives: we don't look for perfection, we look for character."Meares and her family moved to New Zealand earlier this year, but the new adventure came with a caveat – the at-home pottery studio had to be re-created.
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