The catch is that so close to major competition she cannot afford to take anything stronger than aspirin and Panadol or use a nasal spray for fear of testing positive. "You can take certain medication until 48 hours before a race, but even then I'm dubious how your body eliminates such substances," the 28-year-old university lecturer said last night.
On Wednesday, Watson raced well below her best in finishing fourth behind Watt in the time-trial on the NSW Central Coast, but she has not discounted her chances in today's more gruelling 105km road race in Sydney's Centennial Park. "I'm not the sort of person who makes excuses and says I can't race because I'm not feeling well," she said. "It's a national championship, and whether I win, lose or draw it's worth having a go." "A lot of people go in as the underdog or feeling a little bit behind the eight ball and come up trumps."
That wasn't the case on Wednesday when Wilson said signs that something was amiss were evident throughout. "I was hoping freshness would get me through," she said. "Aerobically I was fresh, my heart-rate was flying, but there was nothing going into my legs." "The whole way I knew what was happening, but there was nothing I could do about it."
While Watt will start favourite today, the road race invariably throws up punctures or crashes and a surprise result could be on the cards. Last year, 19-year-old Liz Tadich from Shepparton made an early break, and Watson says she and Watt, as fellow Victorians, spent the rest of the race protecting Tadich's lead. Watson says the same could apply in Atlanta because Watt will be "tagged" by other countries because of her high profile. "That's the way road racing is," she said. "Of course everybody wants to win the race and it is up to the person who makes the right moves and is strong enough to carry them through."
The road race will be ridden over 26 laps of a four-kilometre course (the men's tomorrow is over 50 laps) and Watson says criticism that it is too short and contains no difficult hill is unfounded. "If it's going to be windy it'll be difficult coming up the finishing straight, and the rise while not steep, is reasonably long," she said.