On returning from Mexico, the time for rest was minimal. I had to continue with hard training for the 2nd World Cup, which took place in London on December 5-7. I had about three weeks to prepare myself physically and mentally for another difficult and demanding race. Again, I would participate in the Omnium event) in which I would try to secure a place for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil. The training up to my arrival in London had left me particularly satisfied; I was ready and optimistic about achieving a very good result.
So, I arrived with my national team in London about 4 days before the official opening of the games, a period that gave me plenty of time to adapt to the conditions and the slight time change. The hotel where we were staying was one of the four official hotels of the event; thus, it was full of athletes, women and men, from about a dozen different countries (the total number of the countries taking part in the World Cup was about 35). The whole organization of the event was excellent. From the moment of our arrival, they gave us tags for food for each day of our stay, and there were also organization buses available every half hour to travel to and from the Olympic Velodrome. The weather could be characterized as classic British, with plenty of cold and rain, while the daylight hardly lasted nine hours… Of course, the Olympic Velodrome of London was closed and heated, so it was not affected by the outside weather conditions.
The trainings, until one day before the race, were going extremely well. My anticipation was great. I was looking forward for my event to start, to be thrown into battle and have a great result. The race started with the discipline of Scratch with a total distance of 15 km (60 turns). In this sport, all the athletes start together, and the winner is the one who passes the finish line first. From the start, up to two lapsbefore the end, the race was taking place as I had planned. All that was left was a good placing in the final sprint. However, unfortunately for me, having two laps to go, due to tension and nervousness, the Mexican athlete changed course abruptly and hit the front wheel of my bike. Whatever should I do? When you lose control of the front wheel, as in all two-wheel vehicles, the fall is inevitable. So, from fighting for a place in the final sprint, I found myself on the floor of the Velodrome to crawl down with a speed of approximately 55 km/h. As a result, my body was covered with burns and abrasions, and I strained my right hip. The worst thing of all was that the fall was during the first event (Saturday morning), and I had to keep fighting in the remaining five events of Omnium (2 more on Saturday and another 3 on Sunday) accompanied by pain from my fall. Abandoning the race was not a choice, as each earned position offers valuable points for the Olympic qualification. All I had to do was to forget the unfortunate moment and continue the race with will and tenacity.
So, after the fall I had to go to the organization’s mobile hospital unit to have the wounds cleaned. After coating the wounds with Xylocaine (local anesthetic), 2 painkillers, and a time-consuming cleaning of the wounds, I had to re-start the warm-up and get ready for the 2nd event without having any time to rest and calm down. Of course, my performance in the 2nd event was hopeless. The situation was similar that evening when I ran the third race without achieving a good performance. Finally, I arrived at the hotel on Saturday night (23:00 GMT) exhausted, mainly from the pain of my wounds. The next morning, I had to get up early because I was racing at 10:00 in the 4th event of Omnium. I had slept for barely six hours the previous night. However, even if it was short, that sleeping time was precious and offered me a slight feeling of freshness. As a result, I managed to improve my position in the next three Sunday races, ultimately achieving 17th place, obviously a better placement and result than if I had abandoned the Omnium altogether.
Of course, I will not forget the relief I felt the moment when that race finished. Those two days seemed to me like eternity, indeed. Despite the beauty of racing in such organizations, when you are injured, you can’t enjoy anything. You don’t have fun. And as my coach says, when you don’t have fun with something, you can’t perform on it!
Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope it is filled with health, joyous moments, and success!!