This picture tells it all. Megan Dunn’s appreciation to her mum Joy for getting her to the top in world cycling.
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On Thursday night at a gala dinner in Sydney hosted by the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS), Megan won two of the major awards and was a nominee for one other.
When she was presented with the Best Regional Athlete award Dubbo’s champion cyclist paid special tribute to the love and assistance she has received from her parents Joy and Neil Dunn and her coaches, including her close friend and mentor Gus Dawson.
“My dad would drive me to and from Sydney and he would let me sleep on the way home, so I couldn’t have done it without my dad, and of course my mum,” she told the audience.
“My parents have given me every opportunity to achieve my dreams and there is no way I could have done it without them and the support of my coaches and the New South Wales Institute.”
When Megan was presented with her first award - The Junior Athlete - she tried to skip off the stage and had to be encouraged to the microphone by MC Alan Jones.
But of course she is far from the shy country girl these days and handled herself with amazing maturity and poise.
Jones really played up the fact that she created history with her six wins in two years and asked her did she know what she had achieved?
“I knew it was good, but I didn’t want to get carried away, or get a big head or anything. I just wanted to do my best,” she said.
Winning three gold medals at the World Junior Championships in South Africa in 1998 was amazing; then a year later she backed for three more gold in the same titles held in Moscow.
No other athlete was enjoyed that success.
Megan Dunn’s packed week of social engagements is far from finished.
Tonight she has her Dubbo Senior College Year-12 formal dinner and as a result will miss the Dubbo Cycle Club carnival being held at No.1 Oval.
Then tomorrow morning she will be on a plane to Melbourne for the annual Cycling Australia awards dinner.
Last year she was Junior Female Cyclist of the Year and as a result of her wins in Moscow is again a major contender.
She will then stay in Melbourne for an Australian Elite riders camp and between now and Christmas will ride in the Bay Series in Geelong - an event she won two years ago as a 16-year-old.
Megan then has the Australian Criterium titles in Cronulla on December 14 before a major carnival in Tasmania closer to Christmas.
The pace really picks up in the New Year with the Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat from January 7-11 and the Australian Track titles in Adelaide on February 3-8 - both events will be part of the selection criteria for the Australian team to contest next year’s Commonwealth Games in India.
