​Tian Beckett

My dreams are to continue my passion for my sport and one day, represent my country at the Olympics. I understand that things don't always go the way you want them to so I have goals outside of sport as well. I want to, one day, look after my father's business or open up my own business. To achieve this I want to go to UWA and study business and accountancy.

I'm the national ambassador for 'Bikes for Life' which is a non-profit organisation that helps donate bikes to underprivileged children and orphans in developing countries. It's a very close cause for me and it has opened up opportunities for me to be a leader, not just at school level, but also at a national level. They've asked me to travel with them to Uganda and help out with constructing bikes, teaching young children how to ride so that they can get to school and help their parents at work.

I was adopted at the age of 7½ from China. I was put into the orphanage when I was about five. I do remember collecting pieces of paper, water bottles for money because you could put it into recycling centres and get a couple of coins and you could last a week with that. I was found on the street by a police man. They tried to search for my parents, but I don't remember anything of that. Somehow I survived on the street.

I was very blessed when my parents adopted me. I'm extremely lucky so I appreciate everything that has been given my way and I don't let opportunities slip past.

I definitely want to give back because I know how hard it was, and how much I thrived when I was given help. I know that if I wasn't adopted, wasn't brought into the orphanage, I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be able to work for charity groups, I wouldn't be working as hard as I am for my cycling, and I wouldn't be involved with the MLC community which encourages you to strive to be the best you can be, go out and help people and to be a leader in your own way.

I hope Rio is my first Olympics of many. I was asked by the Australian bobsleigh team whether I wanted to give bobsleighing a go so they said I can be a dual Olympian in the sense of going to the Winter Olympics and also go to the Summer Olympics. It's an opportunity that, on my way, I've grabbed and will take full advantage of. I'm going to go to the trials in 2014 to give that a go.