Three-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Annette Edmondson announces retirement

06 Dec 2021 | 03:15 PMBy: Josh Davies

Australia’s beloved star of the track Annette Edmondson has brought down the curtain on a stellar career, announcing her retirement today.

A stand-out performer on the track and road over a 10-year international career, Nettie’s accolades include three world titles, an Olympic bronze, two Commonwealth Games gold medals and 16 elite national championships.

“This sport has given me so much. It has enabled me to see and experience the world along with its wild and wonderful cultures, meet incredible, inspiring people, and allowed me to grow and develop into a strong and independent human,” Edmondson said in an announcement made via her website.

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“I am so thankful for the support from my parents, SASI, the South Australian Cycling Team, the AIS, the Australian Cycling Team, the Australian Olympic Team and the Commonwealth Games association along with all their sponsors for making my career possible.

“I am thankful for all of my incredible coaches, and life coaches who I have met along the way who have helped me achieve not only on the bike but off the bike as well.”

The much-loved superstar of Australian and world cycling finished her professional career on Sunday at the final round of the inaugural UCI Track Champions League (UCI TCL) at London’s Lee Valley VeloPark, the same venue where she won her Olympic bronze in 2012.

In a fitting farewell to the sport, Edmondson finished the 2021 UCI TCL in third overall.

“I may not have been the ‘perfect’ athlete, but I was me,” Edmondson said.

“I wouldn’t have survived the intensity of the elite sporting world without being a little rough around the edges. I implore you all to do the same. Never lose yourself, even in the pursuit of your goals. Speak out if you need help and use your team around you. Make a plan, and if you hit a roadblock, make another. The world really is your oyster.

2015 Women's Team Pursuit World Champions

“It’s for this reason I am hanging up the bike. I know I have another few years in me physically, but my mind is done.

“While I did not achieve my ultimate goal of Olympic gold on the track, I have achieved almost everything else that I set out to do.”

Edmondson’s journey to donning the green and gold began at the age of 12 through a South Australian Institute of Sport (SASI) Talent Search Program with her brother Alex.

Identified initially as a sprinter where she won multiple national titles in the junior ranks, Nettie moved to the endurance side of track with the guidance of Tim Decker, and after winning her first elite track title in 2011, was handed her first foray on the international scene at the 2012 UCI Track World Championships in Melbourne.

The triple Olympian's double-silver medal performance at the 2012 UCI Track World Championships catapulted her into the Australian Olympic Team to compete at London 2012, where she would go on to win bronze in the omnium.

2013 and 2014 saw Edmondson claim more than three dozen podium appearances on the world stage including wins on the road at Tour of Chongming Island and a stage win at the Tour of Belgium as part of Team Jayco-AIS, while also adding to her national titles tally on the track.

At her first Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, Edmondson celebrated scratch gold and individual pursuit silver.

Annette Edmondson

One month later, Nettie was back highlighting her ability to switch from the track to road with ease by winning a silver at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships women's team time trial with Orica-AIS, adding to her bronze from the same event the year prior.

Edmondson’s first taste of the rainbow stripes came at the 2015 UCI Track World Championships in France, with the double treat of omnium and team pursuit world championships (with Amy Cure, Melissa Hoskins and Ash Ankudinoff) as well as a team pursuit world-record to add to her rapidly growing palmarès.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Edmondson along with Ankudinoff, Cure and Alexandra Manly successfully defended Australia’s 2014 gold in the team pursuit.

At the 2019 UCI Track World Championships in Poland, Edmondson claimed a second world title in the team pursuit with trusted teammates Ankudinoff, Cure and Georgia Baker.

Earlier this year Nettie added a criterium national championship to her locker, fulfilling a highly sought-after goal of earning a green and gold jersey at the elite level on the road before competing at the postponed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in August.

“While I didn’t have the dream finish to my career (results-wise), with COVID postponements and an underwhelming experience at Tokyo 2020, it has given me time to gain perspective,” Edmondson said.

Annette Edmondson

“We are only as good as the team around us. We win, lose and draw as a team, and it doesn’t make the effort any smaller.

“The Australian Cycling Team is the reason for my success, it’s the reason for all the highs and lows, and without them my career would not have been possible.

“If you had told the 12-year-old, sat in a room of students at the Adelaide Super-Drome staring up at a flowchart on the wall, that not only would she make it to the top of the flowchart and race at the Olympics, that she would do it three times, winning a bronze medal, two Commonwealth gold, three world titles and a world-record along the way, I think she would have been not only satisfied but extremely proud.

“So, thank you, to all who have played a part … teams, coaches, staff, teammates, friends, family, sponsors, fans - it has been one hell of a ride. I’m not sure exactly what’s in store next, but I can tell you, I’m excited!”

Career snapshot

Olympic Games

3x Olympian (2012, 2016, 2020)
Olympic bronze (2012 - Omnium)

World Championships (Track and Road)

3x World Champion (2015 – Team Pursuit, Omnium; 2019 – Team Pursuit)
10x Track World Championship medals; 2 Road World Championships medals (Team Time Trial)

Commonwealth Games