Katie Brown, surrounded by Sydney's media. (Image credit: John Stevenson)
Australian cyclist Katie Brown, one of the five Australian team riders injured in the crash in Germany last month that killed team member Amy Gillett, is back home in Sydney and determined to get back on the bike. John Stevenson joined the media throng crammed into her home in Sydney as she spoke about her goals, the crash and the joy of daytime TV.
Sitting in a wheelchair in her parents' home in the Sydney suburb of Menai, in a trophy room full of older brother Graeme's jerseys and medals and almost swamped by a scrum of TV, radio, print and Internet media, Katie Brown emphasized her determination to return to cycling, even though it looks like being a long and hard process.
"It's my life; it's my career, and it's my job, and I love it to death, so I will get back on," said Brown. "I was hoping for a Commonwealth Games start but I'll look to the [2008] Olympics."
Despite cutting a fragile and still clearly damaged figure in leg braces and bandages under her Australian Institute of Sport uniform, Brown comes across as utterly single-minded about returning to top-level competition. "I was quite determined before the accident and now it's just made me a little bit more determined," she said. "It's just a setback. It's something to rebuild and focus on. They say that this will make us stronger mentally and physically."
First, though, Brown has to get out of the wheelchair. She'll be there, she says, "hopefully only another three weeks then I should be starting rehab with my right leg. They say that it'll be six or seven months [till I am back on the bike]."
