BAKER Georgia

General
LOSS OF FATHER
Her father Patrick, whom she describes as the most influential person in her career, passed away in 2015 following a heart attack. "It affected me a lot and it still does. But the most important thing he instilled in me, was to be strong. Dad was the one that taught me the importance of self-belief. He pushed me, he believed in me and whenever I ride my bike, I always think of him. When things get really tough, I just think about how my dad would cope in the same situation." (olympics.com.au, 20 Mar 2020)

RIO DISAPPOINTMENT
She was part of the Australia team pursuit squad that went into the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as one of the favourites for the gold medal. However, the team was involved in a serious crash during training just two days before competition was due to start that left four out of the five squad members with injuries. Baker sustained severe bruising and track burns in the incident, but her teammate Melissa Hoskins injured her hip and was taken to hospital by ambulance. The team were still able to compete, and eventually placed fifth at the Games. "The crash definitely did impact our performance. After the crash, we had girls on crutches being carried and physically placed onto their bikes to compete. It showed a lot of courage to be able to do that because there were so many injuries. Coming home from Rio was very tough. I struggled a lot because I'd lost my dad the year prior and didn't have time to properly process that because everything [being selected for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro] happened so fast. I achieved my dream of going to an Olympics, then for the crash to have happened, and for it to have pretty much been my fault for hitting the wheel in front of me, was a lot to deal with. It was overwhelming and took me about a year to get over it." (olympics.com.au, 20 Mar 2020)

HEART CONDITION
In June 2017 she was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia [SVT], a condition that causes an abnormally fast heart rhythm. She was initially told that scarring on her heart would mean that she would be unable to compete past 2020, but subsequent tests have been more positive. "I was overseas racing for a professional women's team and my heart rate became really high, I thought I was having a heart attack. Given what had happened to my dad [who died of heart attack the previous year], they took it very seriously. They ran some tests and I needed to have surgery. It is a hereditary condition. My mum doesn't have it so it's assumed that my dad would have had it. My sister also has SVT and needed to have surgery too and when I have kids, they will most likely have it as well. Cycling Australia encouraged me to get more tests done recently and those results were a lot more positive. They said the worst thing that could happen from me continuing to ride would be another SVT, but the likelihood of that happening is really low and it's not life-threatening. Now, I can ride my bike for as long as I want, it's just something I will need to continue monitoring and testing every year." (olympics.com.au, 20 Mar 2020)