Cyclist: Right – let’s begin with your season to date! It started off so brilliantly with a National Championship win in January. Since then, it’s been a cycle of sickness and injury. How are you feeling about 2023?
Brodie Chapman: Yeah, it started great then rapidly went downhill, but you can’t catastrophise things. After racing in Australia with my new team and being super motivated, I got COVID before I was meant to go to the UAE Tour. I’d had it before so I thought it would be a similar experience, but I just got super sick and underestimated the time I needed to recover from it properly.
Athletes are susceptible to upper respiratory infections, because when you exercise at a high intensity you suppress your immune system. Couple that with insane amounts of travel, cross-pollination of people and different cities and cultures and you’re at risk. So, I’ve just kept getting sick. I eat, sleep, rest at home well – everything is accounted for.
I’ve found solace in talking to other athletes who have experienced similar things, whether it’s riders who are on the men’s team or other female riders.
Then, not long after
