Cycling legend Anna Meares took centre stage at a Champions in Business lunch held at North Lakes Hotel in May 2026, sharing her remarkable story with local business and community leaders after being reappointed chef du mission of the Australian Olympic team for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
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Meares’ path to the role was far from conventional. It is the same position she held in Paris last year, where she oversaw a team spanning 33 sports and guided Australia to a record 18 gold medals at the 2024 Games, the country’s most successful Olympic campaign ever.
Meares told the North Lakes audience that her main job is to problem-solve, and that while she is the spokesperson for the Australian Olympic team, the headline and story must always be about the athletes and their journey.
Adding a local dimension to the occasion, Meares is now a Moreton Bay resident herself. She and her husband moved to Moreton Bay roughly 18 months ago after returning from New Zealand, deliberately searching for somewhere that reminded them of where they grew up and was within a practical distance of Brisbane Airport. They looked around, came close to settling elsewhere, then kept circling back. After a six-week trial living out of a caravan in the community, they were sold. They have not left since.
The lunch was hosted by the Greater Caboolture, Pine Rivers and North Lakes Chambers of Commerce, making Meares’ presence all the more fitting for a region she now calls home.
Meares grew up in Middlemount in central Queensland, where the nearest cycling club was 300 kilometres away in Mackay. Her family eventually relocated to Rockhampton, where they ran a barbecue chicken shop and she found her first coach. An AIS scholarship took her to Adelaide, and from there she built one of the most decorated careers in Australian sport, collecting 18 gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze medals across the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games over 15 years.
Behind those numbers were some brutal setbacks. At 22, Meares crashed at 65 kilometres per hour on a velodrome, breaking her neck, dislocating her shoulder, tearing ligaments and suffering widespread injuries. Seven months later, she stood on an Olympic podium with a silver medal. Her view, shared at the North Lakes event, is that how you interpret a situation shapes the path you take out of it.
Retirement brought its own challenges. Without sport, she admitted, her sense of self took a hit. It was her husband who helped her find direction again, asking her what she would pursue if she set aside fear and expectation. Her answer was immediate: chef du mission for Australia. From deputy at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games to leading the full team in Paris, and now Los Angeles, she has followed through on exactly that.
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Meares had a direct message for local businesses: you do not need to be a large company to play a role in LA 2028. She encouraged Moreton Bay businesses to make themselves known, identify what they can offer, and understand their measure of success in doing so, noting that even small contributions can help the Games run smoothly and improve the experience for Australian athletes.
Published 10-June-2026
