SAS Australia: Olympic sprinter John Steffensen on his ‘relentless’ experience

From beating the best in the world to fathering three children, tackling SAS Australia is one challenge Olympic sprinter John Steffensen admits he will never do again.

He’s an Olympic medallist and has taken out Gold at the Commonwealth Games but shooting SAS Australia is the single hardest thing sprinter John Steffensen has ever done.

The Sydney father-of-three says no stone is left unturned in the much anticipated upcoming series – an experience he says is far from “just a TV show”.

“I think it was one of, if not the single hardest thing I’ve done in my life,” the 38-year-old tells Insider.

“Obviously life has presented me with some crazy challenges but this was compacted into a period of time and no stone was left unturned, that’s for sure.

“It is not a TV show, it is a proper SAS selection course, and there’s no production in it, no set-up shots. You go in there and it’s relentless. You get exposed emotionally, mentally and physically in one hit.

“That’s a fact.

“I’m a pretty resilient cat and let me tell you, it was testing.”

Former Olympian and SAS contestant John Steffensen with his three kids (from left): Lola, 8, Wolff, eight months, and Rusty, 6. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Steffensen joins 18 Aussie celebrities taking on the toughest challenge of their lives, including Jana Pittman, Brynne Edelsten and Mark Philippoussis, and one thing’s for sure he would never do it again.

“Never,” he laughs.

Steffensen has never steered away from a challenge.

The Paddington-based former track and field athlete won silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the 4×400m relay and gold in the 400m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. No mean feats but in a moving Father’s Day tribute the normally private Steffensen reveals the desire to become a great athlete was born from his craving respect from his father, Russell.

“It sounds really weird, but I just grew up wanting the adulation of my father,” says Steffensen, who turned 39 on Monday.

“I knew he loved sports so much and I watched so much with him. I loved seeing him watch his favourite team and people do well.

“And then when I first got my first taste of it, I was like, ‘oh, this is just a good feeling’. I loved to see how happy he was and I think that really drew me.

“I saw how our country revered top athletes and I wanted that.”

Steffensen competing in the London Olympics in 2012. Picture: Alex Coppel

It wasn’t an easy run.

Steffensen boycotted the 2010 Commonwealth Games after a series of disputes with Athletics Australia, which he accused of mismanaging athletes.

South African-born and Perth raised, Steffensen’s relationship with his father is a good one and the older he gets, the more pride is shown.

“He knows the trials I went through in sport and what I believed in. I think at the time when I was pretty vocal about my beliefs it was quite taboo to come out and speak about those things,” he says.

“But I made a conscious decision to be real throughout my whole career, and I think that put a bit of pressure on him. For a father to see behind the scenes what I was going through. I’m blessed to have such an awesome father because without him I wouldn’t be half the man I am today.”

Steffensen learned recently that there were times growing up that his father would go without dinner to make sure there was food on the table for his children – a love so unconditional it’s taught him the kind of father he wants to be to his own kids, Lola, 8, Rusty, 6 and baby Wolff, eight months.

“I think the greatest gift one can have is your own child – and I’m blessed to have three,” he says.

“It’s amazing that you can influence another human being that’s so close to you.”

The 2021 SAS Australia contestants include Sam Burgess, Mark Philippoussis, Jana Pittman, Manu Feildel and John Steffensen.

The kids have no idea that Dad has achieved so much and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“To be honest, the only thing I did well was I ran very well, and I was celebrated for that,” he says.

“And I respect that – but the reality is, and Covid has shown that, I’m exactly like everybody else.

“You’re in your house, locked down like everyone else.

“They’re good kids and they take life in stride. They’re used to goalposts moving and being able to adapt.”

Lola likes tennis and Rusty is a ‘weapon’ on a skateboard – but neither of them like sports as much as their dad and he would never force that on them.

“I don’t push my kids into sport. I don’t even talk to them about sport,” he says. “I keep them fit and they run at the park but when they’re ready they’ll come to me. “I just support them in whatever they want to do.”

John Steffensen’s dad Russell with some of his trophies.

John Steffensen takes the baton from Sean Wroe in 2008.

A week ago, Steffensen flew to Switzerland for one of his training camps, helping aspiring athletic hopefuls fulfil their potential.

Here in Sydney he’s got Just Sprint, which offers one-on-one coaching as well as group conditioning classes, teaching the mechanics behind running. Overseas, the best young athletes in Europe come to learn from him.

“I wanted to do this because my parents immigrated from Africa and we grew up from humble beginnings and really didn’t have much,” he says.

“I got to a point where I was like, ‘man, I’ve got 15 years experience with this and I never got to learn until I was 21’, so I thought it’d be awesome to start influencing the younger generation now, which is really cool.”

In the next few months he will start Athletic Star Academy in Sydney, teaching kids from five to 12 the basic athletic fundamentals to encourage a love of movement.

“Because sometimes you can’t play soccer, you can’t play football, you can’t play tennis and kids are left going ‘well, I’m not good at sport’,” he says. “But you are – and it doesn’t mean you’re going to be an athlete or that you have to play a sport – it just means you just getting proper movement skills so you have the confidence as you go through your team, become an adult and stay fit.”

SAS Australia returns this month on Channel 7 and 7plus

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Originally published as SAS Australia: Olympic sprinter John Steffensen on his ‘relentless’ experience