Australian cycling champion Anna Meares has announced she’s pregnant with her first baby with her partner, the country’s national sprint cycling coach Nick Flyger. Revealing it’s a dream come true for both her and her partner – putting it above all of her successes in her career – Meares said she’s over the moon with the news and confirmed she’s due to welcome her baby in February.
“This is the one thing that I’ve always wanted that I’ve never had,” Meares, 35, told the Adelaide Advertiser. “In context of titles, being a parent, for Nick being a dad and me being a mum, I would put that above everything I’ve ever done. In some ways, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get this chance so it’s really special now that we have.”
Sharing a photo with Flyger and their family dog on Instagram shortly after, she wrote: “We are very thankful for and overwhelmed by the kindness, joy and love expressed in response to my partner @Nick_flyger and I sharing our happy news.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2fm2ijDdCj/
Fans rushed to share their congratulations, with one writing: “Congratulations Anna, very exciting news!” while another added: “Huge congratulations to you both from all of us… Such exciting news.”
Meanwhile one follower commented: “Oh my gosh!! Congrats you guys!!” and one wrote: “So exciting! We are so happy for you – and Bruce will be an amazing older fur-sibling!” referring to their adorable dog in the photo.
The news comes almost three years after Meares announced she was quitting cycling after a stunning career in the sport, which included six Olympic medals.
“Obviously a lot of people have been wondering where I’m going to go to post-Rio, and with some time and reflection I’ve decided that I’m actually going to retire,” she said at the time. Meares said the reason she took some time after the Olympics to consider her decision was to allow herself an opportunity to remove the emotion from her decision.
“Having looked back and seen all the things I have achieved and assessed some of the injuries I have had to manage going into Rio… I feel satisfied and very happy to step aside from the sport and try something new and different,” Meares added. Flyger took over from national coach Gary West shortly after Meares retired, when West tragically died from motor neurone disease in 2017.
“When I retired, I really distanced myself from the sport and the team, just because that’s what I felt I needed at the time, and we kind of reconnected after Gary passed away,” Meares added to The Advertiser. “Everyone gathered for his funeral and his wake and it was really nice to be around the team again. Nick recognised my struggling with the grief of the loss of Gary after Nick had lost his own father a short time earlier.
“We started to spend a bit more time together as friends and a relationship grew from that. He has literally seen every possible side to me as an athlete and a person.”
Famously, Meares is regarded for her grit and determination after making one of sport’s greatest comebacks after she returned to competition just seven months after an injury where she broke her beck after an horrific crash on the track. She has competed at four Olympic Games — Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 — and has won six Olympic medals (two gold, one silver and three bronze). On top of her Olympic success, Meares has secured the world championship title on 11 occasions, and has won five Commonwealth Games gold medals.