Anna Meares OAM

Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Team Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, 4 x Olympian, Inspirational Speaker Anna Meares OAM is considered by many to be Australia’s most accomplished cyclist and one of our greatest athletes of all time.

During her 15-year career as an elite athlete, Anna collected an incredible 18 gold medals, 13 silver medals, and 16 bronze medals at the Olympic, World, and Commonwealth Games levels across the 500m Time Trial, Keirin, Sprint, and Team Sprint events. Her career was one of many highs and lows, determination, grit, hard work, and dedication.

In January 2008, a mere seven months before her second Olympic campaign for the Beijing Games, Anna broke her neck at the Los Angeles World Cup. It was possible she may never ride again. However, against all odds, Anna returned to the bike and won the silver medal in the Women’s Individual Sprint; it would be the only Olympic medal won by any Australian Cyclist in any cycling discipline in Beijing.

The 2012 London Olympics saw Anna’s great rivalry with Great British cyclist Victoria Pendleton come to a head. Anna and her coach Gary West used data to take the Gold in the Sprint in an epic showdown.

At Rio in 2016, Anna was named Australia’s flag bearer and team captain. At the same Games, she made Olympic history by being the first Australian athlete from any sport to have ever won individual medals at four consecutive Olympic Games.

After 22 years involved in the sport, she retired as the most decorated female athlete in the world with 11 world titles. Of her 41 career medals, Anna achieved 26 following her near-career-ending injury.

In 2018, while Anna was settling into post-professional life and training as a foster career, she was inducted into the SA and QLD Sports Halls of Fame for her sporting achievements. She was awarded “legend” status in the SA Sport Hall of Fame in 2021 (the youngest ever to achieve this accolade) and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Anna was a key team member of the commentating team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with Channel 7.

Anna was the General Manager for the Australian Commonwealth Games team in Birmingham 2022.

Anna was appointed Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, leading the team to their most successful Olympics ever. In November 2024, it was announced Anna would continue her role as Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Team for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

An accomplished and truly inspirational speaker, Anna speaks of sportsmanship, accountability, authenticity, success, and the power of the mind over the body. “Success is not about staying un-defeated” she says, “it’s about how you handle defeat – that’s what makes a true champion on the track and off it”.

Anna Meares Talks About

• Performance under pressure
• Psychology of success
• Dealing with change
• Resilience
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Sportsmanship
• The power of the mind over the body