Rio Olympics 2016: Beaten Australian Anna Meares backtracks after appearing to suggest Team GB cycling stars were cheating
BEATEN Australia captain Anna Meares has backtracked after appearing to accuse Team GB's cycling stars of cheating.
But after being accused of sour grapes, 32-year-old Meares moved to clarify her comments.
She said: "I would like to clarify that I never said or insinuated that Team GB are cheating or doing anything suspicious.
"What I said was it makes me scratch my head to think how we can be better competitive with them at the Olympics.
"That's what great rivals, champions and teams like GBR do. They're an amazing team and their athletes and staff deserve the success that's come their way."
Meares has originally questioned how Britain - who traditionally perform badly at world championships - always stepped it up for Olympics following gold rushes at the last three Games.
She insisted: "We’re all just scratching our heads. They’ve got it together, and to be honest I’m not exactly sure what they’ve got together.
"It is not just the Australian team that have questions."
Team GB have won 22 golds at the last three Olympics - 18 more than closest rivals Holland.
Another world champion, Germany's Kristina Vogel, also pointed to the dramatic improvement in performances between world championships and the Games.
She added: "They were cannon fodder when you look at the last few years.
"Now they come along with a high level. I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything but it is all very questionable."
French sprint coach Laurent Gane said: "The recipe should be asked for from our neighbours because I don’t understand. I don’t know what they’re doing.
"These are teams that do nothing extraordinary for four years and once they arrive at the Olympics they outclass the rest of the world."
And Michael D’Almeida, part of the French sprint team who won bronze, said: "We are human beings like them, we are made of the same stuff, we have a bike like they do, so why are they better?
"If I had the explanation I wouldn’t be here today with a bronze medal around my neck. I’m not in their camp, in their country, I don’t know how it works, I don’t know what goes on. I have my ideas about certain things."
But British Cycling chief Iain Dyer issued a robust response.
He said: "We’ve won 12 world titles since London 2012. If that makes us cannon fodder coming into the Olympics then so be it.
"If you look at some of the times that have been done here, some of the teams simply haven’t shown up. That’s the bottom line.
"While we peak athletically for the Olympics, we also peak in our research and innovation for the Olympics.
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"The helmets we are using here, for example, we used in 2012 but haven’t used them again until now.
"The bikes obviously are new, the first time. And no end of different components and strategies are only appearing for the first time.
"When you look at our opposition, generally once you’ve seen them at the Olympics with their new kit, you go to the next World Cup and they are still on the same equipment.
"That’s just not the way we approach things.
"The times that have been done here, some of the teams simply haven’t shown up. That’s the bottom line.
"I don’t want to cite specific examples but you can all trawl through the times for World Cups and World Championships.
"Some of the people here are not even performing at the level of World Championships.
"It’s important every athlete who comes to the Olympics takes responsibility for their own performance."
And Golden girl Laura Trott told SkySports: "For us it wasn’t go to the London worlds and win all the golds there, it was all about the Olympics. ";We’re very different to the others in our outlook."