A year that started in near-tragedy ended in popular acclaim when Anna Meares won the Australian cyclist of the year award.
It was one of three major Cycling Australia awards that went to the track cycling star at a black-tie dinner on Sunday night in Melbourne.
Meares recovered from a potentially-fatal fracture to the C2 vertabra in her neck to win Australia's only cycling medal at the Beijing Olympics, a silver in the women's sprint.
The 25-year-old rode superbly at the Games before losing the gold medal ride-off against British star Victoria Pendleton.
Her gritty comeback was one of the great stories for Australia at the Beijing Games and she was in tears after reaching the podium at the Olympics.
Meares won the Sir Hubert Opperman Medal, known as the Oppy, as well as the People's Choice Award and the women's track cyclist of the year award.
Her main rival for the Oppy, Tour de France star Cadel Evans, won the men's road cyclist award.
Evans had won the previous two Oppys and was runner-up at the Tour for the second-successive year.
On January 20, Meares crashed out of the keirin final at the World Cup round in Los Angeles.
She sustained a hairline fracture to her C2 vertebra and some torn muscles in her neck, a dislocated right shoulder, torn tendons in her shoulder and some bruising.
Had the fracture been a couple of millimetres longer, Meares could have died or suffered permanent paralysis.
She returned to Australia in a wheelchair, but was riding on a stationary bike within days and was determined to make the Olympic team.
Meares was unable to ride competitively until June and results at the March world titles meant she only barely qualified a berth in the sprint at the Olympics.
But at the Revolution event in June at Melbourne's Hisense Arena, Meares rode a scorching flying 200m time to prove she was ready for the Games.
Meares also holds the world record for the 500m time trial, no longer an Olympic event.
She won the 500 at the Athens Olympics and took the bronze medal in the sprint.
Other award winners included Cameron Meyer as men's track cyclist of the year, Vicki Whitelaw as the top women's road cyclist and men's road development coach Brian Stephens as the coach of the year.
This was the first time Meares had won the Oppy and she is only the second woman, after road cycling star Anna Wilson in 1999.
Meares was in tears as she paid an emotional tribute to the many people who helped her through the injury and the comeback that followed.
Her most heartfelt sentiments were for former national track coach Martin Barras, who lost the job after Australia's disappointing Olympics campaign.
"I hold a lot of love and respect for 'Marv' and he knows that," she said.
After accepting the Oppy, Meares asked Barras, other support staff and her track team mates to join her on stage.