Anna Meares, Australia’s chef de mission for the Paris Olympics, is not sleeping well. With just a week to go before the Games officially begin, the former track cyclist’s mind is whirring as fast as the pedals of her bike once did. Nearly 1,000 people are under her management, and the former world champion is bearing a heavy weight of responsibility.
“I feel like I’m getting the same almost physical response as when I was an athlete when I got this close,” says Meares, whose glittering cycling career ended in 2016. “I still get sweaty palms a bit when I realise how close it is, a little bit panicked.
