Caroline Buchanan Quotes
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Mum and dad would drive me to the ACT Academy of Sport gym at 5 A.M., sit in the car and read a book, and then drive me to school. I appreciated it when I was younger, but I didn't really understand how much they were putting into it. Now I look at budgets of $70,000 to compete, and I think, 'Wow, they've put so much into this.'
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When I compete, I love a huge crowd, expectation, pressure, and I like to have nerves: the butterflies flying and my hands shaking. This way, I am completely amped, focused, and ready; otherwise, I tend to be to relaxed, content, and don't perform at my maximal potential.
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A female professional athlete has to have the whole package, as opposed to a guy who can just be good at sport. You have to have a job or go to uni or do three sports instead of one, you have to be a standout.
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You never hold back. If I turn up to the track and feel cautious or not committed, I turn around and go home. If you don't have that full commitment when you're pedaling into a 40-foot jump, there's not much room for error, and you'll come off worse.
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You have got to act on instinct; you've got to ride from your heart and let that performer come out. You can't over-think it too much because if you're thinking, the race is already over.
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In BMX, you need an inner mongrel, something that's a point of difference in the female category.
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I think, in BMX, it's a lot like horse racing. I wouldn't really bet on it.
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I am just this small-town Canberra girl that's taken riding a little kid's bike on dirt tracks to the highest level.
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I've always been a bit of a daredevil, even as a little girl with a pretty high pain tolerance and things like that.
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I get called Pink quite a lot. The Pink of the Action Sport World. Or Queen of the Dirt - some call me that.
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It would be simpler going to an Olympic Games knowing you had to nail one trick that you've done a hundred times, and if you do it, you'll win. Or if you're a swimmer, if you swim a certain time, you will win. In BMX, there are no guarantees.
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I'm made to ride a bike, not do washing.
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I really want to win a medal and would want to win gold. It's my fire and fuel, life and dream, everything.
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BMX is never over until the finish line, and I am always trying to challenge myself for that world stage.
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Any race, I'm always going for the top step on the podium.
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I've always been very competitive - that runs in our family. I'd always try to beat my brother. I'd race the boys and wanted to beat them. They toughened me up. They didn't treat me like a girl.
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I like pressure. Diamonds are made under pressure, and I definitely enjoy it.
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At the end of the day, I'm riding a little kid's bike around a track; that's what I've done for as long as I can remember. Now it's just on a bigger stage at the Olympics.
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There's so many levels. You can rise on the day to win a national event or a world title but the level you need to rise to win an Olympics Games is another one altogether.
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I truly believe that it's all of the hard times that make you step up to the next level, and that's what makes you a champion.
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The mistakes you make and lessons you learn at a young age are what gets you to an Olympic level.
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It's an honour to be a world champion, and it can never be taken away from you.
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I started racing BMX when I was five years old. I followed in my brother's footsteps, and I was a little tomboy. When I came into the sport, there wasn't many women. I raced with the boys; I looked up to the boys, and all my mentors were boys.
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The biggest thing I've learnt is not to limit myself by the norm or what I should be doing.