The Australian women’s eight are set to race in the Olympics with a special weapon. They will be piloting a boat that has been named for fallen Australian cyclist Amy Gillett. Gillett was a Junior World Champion rower winning gold in both 1993 and 1994. She was also part of Australia’s women’s eight team for the 1996 Olympic games in Atlana.
Gillett died at the age of 29 in a tragic accident while training with the Australian women’s cycling squad in 2005. Gillett along with five of her teammates were struck by a car when it crossed into their lane in Germany.
In a letter to the rowing crew Gillett’s parents said, “One of the things that parents who’ve lost a child fear is that their child will somehow be forgotten as life moves on, as it inevitably must. We hope that you will feel all of Amy’s spirit in the boat with each sweep of the oar and touch of the blade.”
The rowing competition is set to begin the same day as the cycling road race, on August 9th.
The Aussie’s women’s nine will be champions indeed, if not by medal, then surely in spirit.