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It’s ladies’ day for Australia at the Izu Velodrome on Wednesday. But, instead of fashions in the field there will be a medal triple threat on show when the track cycling competition begins at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
World record holder and reigning world champion (C3), Paige Greco lines up in the 3000m individual pursuit C1-3, while in the C4 event World Champion and record holder Emily Petricola is hoping to race against teammate and 2020 World Championship silver medallist Meg Lemon for the gold medal.
Greco, 24, burst onto the scene at the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, where she set three world records in two days and won the 500m time trial and the pursuit before adding a silver medal in the scratch race. She successfully defended her pursuit crown at the 2020 World Championships in Canada and is embracing the expectation that comes with being tagged the one to beat in Tokyo.
“I think it can give me a bit of an advantage in a way because I know what I can do and that’s a stepping off point for me,” Greco said. “I am a bit of a target but as they try and get to my record, I’m obviously trying to break it (as well). I’m feeling really excited and nervous all at the same time.”
Greco, who has cerebral palsy, said she felt she’d dealt well with the disruption caused by Covid.
“I like to stick to a plan and have a goal. I had to adjust my thinking around my training and what it would look like and then remain calm and look at it from a different angle,” she said. “I’ve definitely worked on that, and I think I’m much more resilient now in that sense.”
As a youngster, the South Australian competed in the 100-200m sprint double in Para-athletics, but five years ago at a talent identification day she was told she should give cycling a go.
“When I started, I was all for doing just the 500m time trial and then my coach at the time said do the three kilometre and the road. So now I’m all for endurance and I love my long, long bike rides,” she said.
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Meg Lemon, 31, has ridden a different path to Tokyo. In December 2014 Lemon was working as a dietician in Darwin and across remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. She was commuting to work on a bike when she was hit by car. The brain trauma caused six months amnesia and ongoing physical and neurological impact.
“It took six to 12 months for me to realise that I probably wasn’t going back to my life in Darwin,” said Lemon, who had returned to her hometown of Adelaide. “My physio kind of challenged me to get back onto a bike as a way of facing the fear and for a bit of rehab. So I ended up hiring one of those little city bikes and as soon as I jumped on I just felt a sense of freedom.
“I was in a pretty bad place at the time and I think if I hadn’t got on that bike that day, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. My parents say cycling has given me the blue back in my eyes. It’s helped me connect with new friends, reconnect with others and just move on with my life.”
Lemon has also moved on from a city bike rental to a finely-tuned racing machine that she’s ridden to podium placings at national and world level. The biggest threat to her Tokyo aspirations comes from teammate Petricola and Lemon admits it’s sometimes been ‘tricky’ to manage their competitive rivalry.
“I think in the past I’ve let that get to me but, at the end of the day, we’re here for Australia and I’m not here to beat Em,” Lemon said. “I actually can’t wait to see what she can do and I think she’s going to break the world record. But I want to be out there and do my best and I would love for us both to be on the podium.
“I’d love for it to be a gold and silver medal ride off again” said Lemon who, despite losing to Petricola, describes the medal decider against her team mate at the world titles in Canada in 2020 as one of her fondest memories. “I think it brought us closer together in some ways. She’s always pushing me to go harder and I actually have to thank her for that. I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for her.”
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Petricola goes into the event knowing that as two-time reigning World Champion and world record holder she is the one to beat. But for her, success at the Paralympic Games is about much more than medals.
“My hope is that is the story people focus on is not the medals,” said Petricola, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007.
“I know medals are awesome, we love them, and no one’s a bigger trophy hunter than me. But I do this with the hope there is some greater benefit to society and the medals are a reward for the people who are working with me day to day to manage me through those really difficult moments.”
The team that has steered the course for Petricola includes two-time Olympic rower Matt Ryan and five-time Olympic cyclist Shane Kelly, who as her cycling coach has taught her much about how to deal with pressure and expectation.
“I think Shane Kelly is probably one of the very best cycling coaches our country has because he simplifies everything,” Petricola said.
“He teaches you about the mindset you need to be successful, as much as he does the skills on the bike – and he’s very good at teaching the skills on the bike.
“He doesn’t make it feel like it’s an intimidating thing to go to a world championship and perform or to stand there as a world record holder or to be the reigning world champion.
“You know, with all of this supposed pressure on me he really has been phenomenal in terms of teaching me how to unload that (pressure) from my shoulders.”
Petricola says the journey on the bike has probably been the easiest part.
“Despite what you might think by looking at me, MS is really an invisible disease where on the outside you can look totally normal,” said Petricola, who navigates sometimes debilitating symptoms including extreme fatigue, temporary vision loss, foot drop, pain, tremors, tingling and numbness through her body.
“Just when you think something might be OK my body betrays me. So I think the more that we talk about it, as hard as it is to expose yourself like that and really be so vulnerable and say this is wrong with me and this is wrong with me and this is wrong with me, the greater understanding the world can have.”
Greco, Lemon and Petricola will also contest the time trial and road race events next week at the Fuji Speedway.
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
Australians in action on Wednesday at Izu Velodrome:
– 10:00 (11:00 AEST) – Women’s 3000m individual pursuit C1-3 Qualifying – Paige Greco (C3)
– 10:56 (11:56 AEST) – Women’s 3000m individual pursuit C4 Qualifying – Emily Petricola and Meg Lemon
– 13:45 (14:45 AEST) – Women’s 3000m individual pursuit C1-3 Final – Paige Greco (C3)*
– 14:00 (15:00 AEST) – ) – Women’s 3000m individual pursuit C4 Final – Emily Petricola* and Meg Lemon*
*Pending qualification results
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By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 25 August 2021
