Stephanie Morton jokes she still has splinters from the Anna Meares Velodrome lodged in her elbow after a horror crash last year.
But the 27-year-old has no interest in being the 'next Anna Meares' - despite being anointed as such by the woman herself.
South Australian Morton has bad memories of the new Brisbane facility, which will host the track national championships starting Thursday and was purpose-built for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
At last year's national titles, she somehow escaped from a brutal crash - in which her sprint partner Kaarle McCulloch's wheel smashed into her head - towards the end of the women's keirin final with only a few bruises and grazes.
"That was a nasty one," Morton said.
"I was looking behind me waiting for the other girls to come and the girl in front slowed up.
"I hit her wheel, then as I've crashed, (McCulloch) accidentally ran over my head.
"She came up to me after the race, white as a ghost, apologising.
"I said, 'what are you apologising for?' I was out cold so I didn't realise she hit me."
Morton is hoping for much better fortunes this time around with the Commonwealth Games just around the corner, especially now she and McCulloch have taken the mantle from Meares as Australia's foremost sprint stars.
"Anna is Anna. She did what she did," she said.
"We're never going to replace Anna, she's the queen of track cycling.
"It's a positive for us to have a homegrown hero of that standard ... (but) not for someone to try and be like, or be the next Anna.
"I'm going to be the first me and just use her as the benchmark.
"I guess I feel like it's my job and Kaarle's job now to do that for the next generation and be a positive role model for them."
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