Olympic athletes begin Far North preparation for Tokyo
Developing a strong team culture will be vital as Australia’s top track and field stars put the finishing touches on their Olympic preparations in Cairns.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Developing a strong team culture will be vital as Australia’s top athletes put the finishing touches on their Olympic preparations in Cairns.
Members of the Australian Olympic Athletics Team, including sprinting young gun Rohan Browning, were at Barlow Park on Tuesday morning to kick off their pre-departure staging camp ahead of the Tokyo Games.
About 20 team members were welcomed to the region by Cairns Mayor Bob Manning, with more athletes set to arrive during the week.
In total, more than half of Australia’s 64-strong athletics team will attend the camp, with other athletes overseas and a small group unable to attend due to Covid restrictions.
Queensland Athletics president and Oceania Athletics executive director Yvonne Mullins said the staging camp was an important part of the athletes’ Olympic preparation.
“Not only does it aim to simulate a training environment similar to that of the host city, it’s also about enhancing the outcomes and building a team culture before stepping into the stadium,” she said.
Athletics Australia high performance general manager Andrew Faichney said team bonding would be a big focus.
“We chose Cairns as the staging venue as it allows us to train in warm, sunny Queensland, but from a cultural point of view it also allows us to create and grow a positive culture and feelings within the team before our athletes go into the Olympic village in Tokyo.”
Race walker Jemima Montag, who will be one of 38 Australian athletes making their Olympic debuts in 2021, said strong team bonds would help to alleviate some of the challenges in Tokyo.
“It’s really important, especially for us individual athletes,” Montag (below) said.
“For the rest of the year it can feel a bit lonely, but coming into this camp environment is really nice because everyone’s got the same competitive mindset and everyone’s got a story to tell, especially with these Games and the pandemic, everyone’s had different obstacles that they’ve had to overcome, so it’s really interesting just chatting to everyone and it feels good to be part of a team.”
Sprint hurdler Liz Clay said developing a strong team culture was particularly important ahead of an Olympic Games unlike any other.
“We’re going over there not knowing what to expect, so that’s the biggest challenge,” she said.
“There’s so many unknowns, but everyone here is ready to tackle any challenges and go with the flow, like we’ve kind of been doing all year.
“You’ve got to have people to lean on and people to bounce things off. I think by the end of the camp we’ll all be pretty close and we’ll be ready to tackle those challenges.”
Montag said the camp would be used to iron out any final issues before the Games.
“Now that we’re within a month of our race, things do taper off,” she said.
“We’ve been doing big 130km weeks with lots of heat chamber stuff and hills and speed, and we still have a few key sessions to hit, but this is a lot like a dress rehearsal, so any nutritional things we might be trying for race day, such as hyperhydration, pre-cooling, we can try here.
“Our training is easing off but we’re just putting those final touches on.”
Australia will send its largest contingent of athletes to an overseas Olympics at Tokyo, with only Sydney 2000 and Melbourne 1956 having larger Australian teams.
The Tokyo Olympic Games will commence next Friday, July 23, with track and field events to start on July 30.
Originally published as Olympic athletes begin Far North preparation for Tokyo
‘I think he’s hot’: Premier left blushing by on-air confession
Steven Miles has been left flustered after a secret admirer called in live on radio to confess she had a crush on the Premier.
How the crowd can help the Snakepit become a fortress
Cairns Taipans captain Taran Armstrong is hoping the Orange Army continues to turn up to all home games as they look to make the Snakepit a fortress this season.