Our top Gold Coast Commonwealth Games athletes, six months on
SHE was one of the Aussie revelations at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Now, six months on, we track down Ariarne Titmus and other medallists who did Australia proud.
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SIX months on from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, we catch up with six medallists who did us proud:
Ariarne Titmus, swimming (3 golds and 1 silver)
IT WAS out of the blocks and into the books for swimmer Ariarne Titmus as she dived straight back into Year 12 studies after her sensational showing at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
There was little time to bask in the glow of her four-medal haul — three golds and a silver — with the Brisbane teen in her final year of high school at St Peter’s Lutheran College at Indooroopilly.
She also had to resume training for the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo in August, when she became only the third woman in history to crack the four minute mark in the 400m freestyle, finishing second to American great Kate Ledecky.
Titmus also won a gold in the 4x200m relay.
Six months on from the Gold Coast Games, Titmus — who turned 18 last month — said they would always hold a special place in her heart.
“I feel I really handled the pressure of racing on front of a home crowd, and having a profile at the Games, quite well, she said.
“I think it helped me race faster and boosted my confidence.
“My performances there made me believe that I could break the four minute mark later on in the year, which I did.”
Titmus said competing in her first big multi-sport event, and staying in the Games village, also gave her a taste of what the Olympics would be like as she sets her sights on Tokyo in 2020.
She is juggling her last weeks at school while training for the national short course championships in Melbourne at the end of the month.
“I have one more term of school left and I’m so ready to finish,” she said.
“I’m just trying to enjoy what I have left as a schoolgirl, but am super excited to really focus more on swimming next year with more time on my hands.”
Michael Shelley, marathon (gold)
HE endured a torrent of abuse from online trolls after his controversial gold medal win in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games marathon.
But Michael Shelley says he has ‘moved on’ and remains proud of his triumph in front of his home crowd.
Shelley was left devastated over an outburst of social media vitriol after he ran straight past Scottish rival Callum Hawkins who had collapsed sickeningly on the road about 2km from the finish line.
While admitting the controversy had tarnished his Games experience, Shelley said he still had fond memories of the event.
“It was quite special to be part of a home Commonwealth Games and to have family, including my grandmother, there to watch me race,” he said.
“It (the controversy) happened and I can’t do anything to change it. Callum and I have both moved on and are focused on our next goals.”
For Shelley, that’s Tokyo 2020 in what will be his third successive Olympics if he can qualify.
He has not run a marathon since the Commonwealth Games, but has just returned from the UK where he competed in two half-marathons.
Shelley, who turns 35 next week, said he would sit down soon with his coach to map out a plan for next year to try to qualify for Tokyo.
“Becoming a three-time Olympian is definitely a big motivation for me, as well as trying to break 2h 11min,” he said.
“I’ve run 2:11 five times and I definitely want to run faster.”
Emma McKeon, swimming (4 golds, 2 bronze)
FOR Emma McKeon, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games were very much a family affair.
McKeon and older brother David both swam for Australia at the Games with a vocal cheer squad of family and friends willing the siblings on from the stands at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.
Many, including parents Ron and Susie, came up from the McKeons’ home town of Wollongong for the Games.
“It was cool having all my family there — it’s pretty rare to have such a big meet like the Comm Games on home soil,” she said.
“I also had four of my school friends come up who have never watched me swim before.”
McKeon, who bagged four gold medals and two bronze at the Games, replicated the effort at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo in August.
After a three-week break spent at home in Wollongong, she recently returned to the pool at Griffith University’s Gold Coast to prepare for her next challenge, the Australian short course championships in Melbourne.
She said it felt surreal driving past the empty Games village next to the university each day.
“It’s kind of a weird feeling,” she said.
“Everything was packed up really quickly and there’s almost no evidence the Games happened.”
Dane Bird-Smith, 20km walk (gold)
QUEENSLAND’S champion Games walker has detected a difference in his public profile when he trains along the banks of the Brisbane River.
“My main training course is along Coronation Drive and that is where I have experienced the most incredible changes since the Games,’’ Olympic bronze medallist Bird-Smith said.
“Race walking has never had a huge following, famous for keeping Kath and Kel’s glutes in ‘foxy’ shape (in the Kath and Kim television comedies) and infamous for the disqualification of Jane Saville at the Sydney Olympics.
“But public support and perception has never been stronger with office commuters and school kids among those cheering out, `Go Birdman”.
“All around Australia the walking community is appreciating the growing respect for one of the toughest and oldest Olympic events and most is thanks to the intense racing exhibition that was the CG 20km race walk.
“The Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast was something incredibly different. Every moment of it was shared so closely with friends, family and even complete strangers.’’
Bird-Smith competed in China late last month, placing fifth in one race, and is aiming for medals at next year’s world titles and then the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Preparing for the world champs and Tokyo will require long stints overseas at altitude venues and a series of races designed to put me in peak form for that one day,’’ he said.
“Being involved with the course preparation at Currumbin I was so proud to see the huge turnout for the event on the day and have such amazing compliments for the course and the race itself.’’
Matthew Denny, hammer throw (silver)
BEING recognised in Tamworth as well as feted by well wishers in his home town on the Darling Downs have been souvenirs from hammer thrower Matthew Denny’s Games silver medal.
“One kid in Allora, where I come from, said it gave him inspiration to do the sport a bit more, so that is awesome to inspire kids,’’ said Denny, who also placed second in the discus earlier this month in the Continental Cup meet in the Czech Republic.
“People do recognise me a lot more, which is quite cool.
“I was at a speaking gig in Tamworth two months ago and I was just walking at my hotel with an Olympic tracksuit top on. A bloke with his wife asked me if it was a real one or a fake one.
“I said it was real. They laughed and asked what I did. I said I was a thrower in field events and he went, `I know you. You were at the Commonwealth Games’. They told me how they watched. I’ve had that a few times. People like telling you.’’
Like Bird-Smith, Denny thought a home Games might mean more sponsorships of athletes, without much paydirt discovered.
“It didn’t really come to light as well as we’d hoped, but we’re still trying there,’’ Denny said.
Denny, a pup as a field events athlete at age 22, managed to maintain a 14kg weight loss out of his desire to be a lighter, more energetic at the Gold Coast Games.
“I cut out chocolate milk and kebabs, my favourite things, before the Games,’’ he said.
“I had some of it after the Games, but didn’t blow out, just 6kg after I’d been 116kg at the Games, the lightest I’d been in years.
“I’m back again into training though the last couple of weeks.’’
Georgia-Rose Brown, gymnastics (silver and bronze)
SIX months on from the Commonwealth Games and gymnast Georgia-Rose Brown’s resolve to embark on her third Olympic cycle could not be stronger.
As Australia’s oldest and most experienced current female gymnast, Brown was a standout on the Gold Coast, winning a silver medal on beam and a bronze medal as a key member of the team competition.
The Gold Coaster needed to take several weeks off training following such a thrilling but emotionally-draining competition so she could regather her energy and drive for the 2020 Olympic campaign.
“The break was much needed after an intense and exciting campaign,’’ Brown, 23, said.
“Now that I’m underway in training, I’m hoping that I will be in an even better position going into this year’s world championship selection.’’
Brown showed she was on track when she narrowly beat Commonwealth Games teammate Rianna Mizzen for the All-Around title at last month’s National Clubs Carnival competition on the Gold Coast.
Brown was a travelling reserve for the 2012 London Olympics while Australia did not send a women’s team to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“As this is my third Olympics, it would definitely mean a lot to me to compete at Tokyo 2020 however, at this point in time I’m just taking it competition by competition, trying not to look too far ahead. I find that focusing too much on the future can sometimes become a bit overwhelming,’’ she said.
Brown has returned to her bio-medical science course after putting her university studies aside earlier this year to focus on the Commonwealth Games.
Where do they keep their medals?
Titmus: “Sometimes they are under my bed and other times they are just sitting on a little table in my room. When I first returned from the Games, all my friends and family loved seeing them, but I keep them tucked away now.”
Denny: “I keep mine in my bedside drawer.’’.
McKeon: “Mine are at home in Wollongong. My parents run a swim school and they get them out and show all the little kids.”
Bird-Smith: “My medal usually lives at home sitting beside my bed with its best friend, the Olympic medal. But from time to time, they visit schools or hang out at my grandparents, who love to show them off.’’
Shelley: “I keep it in my sock drawer. I take it out to show the kids if I do a school visit. I think it’s important to inspire the next generation of athletes.
Rose-Brown: “I keep them at home but I do get them out now and then to show them off at events and functions.
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