Edmondson won a bronze medal in the omnium on debut in London in 2012 then was involved in nasty training crash just days out from competition in Rio which impacted the team pursuit campaign and left her bitterly disappointed.

But despite the lack of international racing in the past 12 months, the 29-year-old says she and the team are prepared to take on the world when competition begins at Izu on Monday.

The first day of racing features women's team sprint medals and men's and women’s team pursuit qualifying.

"It's crazy to think now I'm one of the older athletes, I've always had Anna Meares there and she's been the more experienced athlete to look up to," Edmondson said.

"But it's made me appreciate a lot of different sides (to the Olympics), the first Games I was the underdog who squeezed into every single Australian team and made it by the skin of my teeth, I was hungry and determined and didn't give a rats about anything.

"Then in Rio I think I was hungrier and wanted that gold medal more which was why I was so disappointed afterwards when that didn't work.

"But it put things into perspective for me and I realised life isn't all about sport or the result you get, so this time around (in Tokyo) I'm using that approach to help me stay calm and grounded and I feel a lot more relaxed."

Edmondson said the 12-month Olympic postponement had allowed the Australian team to put together an extra uninterrupted block of training.

"Unfortunately, 2016 wasn't our best results so we are definitely hoping to turn things around," she said.

"We've been training so hard back home and with the postponement we've made the absolute most of it and had the best training block we've ever had.

"We didn't need to travel or qualify, we'd already been selected, so the whole team has been able to relax and focus on the job at hand.

"I really do believe we're in a good place and I'm so excited to see what we can do on the track."

Reece Homfray