Aussie track star Bendere Oboya joins Peter Bol’s training group, eyes 800m in Paris Olympics

Track star Bendere Oboya has linked up with the coach who took Peter Bol to within a whisker of an Olympic medal, and is eyeing off the same event in the lead-up to the Paris Games.

Tokyo Olympian Bendere Oboya has linked with the coach who led Peter Bol to within a whisker of an Olympic medal, with the aim of running a world-class 800m by the Paris Games.

Oboya, who ran the 400m in Tokyo, has moved to Melbourne to join coach Justin Rinaldi’s Fast 8 Track Club which includes Australian sensation Bol and former national record holder Joseph Deng.

A former Commonwealth Youth Games winner and world championship semi-finalist over the single lap, Oboya is keen to tackle a new challenge and move up in distance to the 800m.

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“It was definitely something I was thinking about before and after the Olympics, I just thought, I should go for it,” Oboya said.

“You don’t want to look back in 10 years and be like, I should have done that.

“People have been saying since I was 16 to move to the eight but I wanted to move when I was ready.

“And now I want to step up and actually, I feel like it could be good.”

Bendere Oboya is stepping up from the 400m to the 800m. Picture: Brendan Radke

Rinaldi still believes Oboya still has things to achieve in the 400m, where she is the eighth-fastest Australian of all time.

“But if we think long-term – I’m thinking from now until Paris in 2024, at those Olympics – that’s when I’d like her to be really ready to run world-class 800s,” he said.

‘I’m thinking along a three-year progression to (the Olympics).

“She’ll do some this year, but the focus will still be on running quick 400s and then we’ll add more 800s over the next three years and get her ready for it.”

Athletics Australia is yet to release its domestic calendar for the summer, with Covid presenting scheduling challenges.

But Rinaldi plans for Oboya to run an 800m at some stage this summer and she could step up internationally as soon as next year to test the waters.

“We don’t want to rush into it because I think if we rush into it and then she’s a bit scarred by the event she won’t want to do it,” Rinaldi said.

“I want to keep in her mind it’s a three-year process, don’t really worry about what happens over 800m this year, we’re jut testing it and see how we’re going.”

Peter Bol finished fourth in the 800m final in Tokyo.

When Rinaldi says world-class, he doesn’t just mean making an Australian team for a major event.

“We don’t think about being the best in Australia, we think about being the best in the world,” he said.

“It doesn’t really matter if Peter and Joe break each other’s (national) record, they know it’s not really that good realistically.

“I only have a small group but I like to have it where everyone’s thinking about being the best in the world and we’re working towards that standard. Then it becomes second nature.

“I think we saw that with Pete this year. He’s spent five years with me and now he’s at the Olympics and he’s happy that he came fourth, but it’s not really an achievement in his eyes.

“That’s the level we’ve set, which I think is good.

“And Bendere seems to be very level-headed and not afraid of things and I think she’ll be a good addition to the group.”

Runner’s unique bond with swim star Stephanie Rice

Emerging track star Bendere Oboya says Stephanie Rice’s courageous decision to open up about her struggles post swimming can help her find balance in her own athletic career after the Sport Australia Hall of Fame’s scholarship and mentoring program linked the pair.

Oboya, who competed in the 400m on the track at the Tokyo Olympics, praised Sport Australia Hall of Fame for the program and said having a mentor like Rice to work with would be of enormous benefit, with the pair already forming a unique bond.

A former Commonwealth Youth Games champion and world championship semi-finalist, Oboya almost walked away from the sport in 2019 after struggling with her own mental health issues.

Bendere Oboya competed in the 400m at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Phil Hillyard

She said the mentorship with triple Olympic gold medallist Rice was exciting.

“We had a talk a while back and it was really good to get to know Steph personally. I think we talked for an hour or two – the conversation just flowed,” Oboya said.

“Just getting her to understand where I’ve come from and how I react to things so I can get that trust with her and she can learn more about me, it was good to do that.

“(The mentorship) will benefit me a lot because mental health for me is important.

“I do like getting people’s input, so already Steph is great. I think it’s just a natural bond, it’s not a forced thing.”

Aussie swim champ Stephanie Rice is mentoring track star Bendere Oboya. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Oboya said pairing with Rice was “perfect”.

“She’s seen (sport) from a different point of view – she’s not my coach or my physio but she has been there,” Oboya said.

“I’ve talked to (Olympic hurdles champion) Sally Pearson a couple of times too, so having that input and Steph’s input – totally different and both totally necessary – it just takes that weight off you.”

Sport Australia Hall of Fame chair John Bertrand said the Scholarship and Mentoring Program provided an incredible opportunity for “dream builders”.

“Those young people who dream of higher, further, faster,” Bertrand said.

Oboya has a bright future on the track. Picture: Brendan Radke

“These mentoring roles are not to coach or teach the scholarship holder about their sport but rather it is about encouraging a young athlete to take their performances to another level, about facing their fears on the world stage and provided by people who have been there and done it, members of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.”

The mentors are some of the biggest names in Australian sport, including swimming legend Dawn Fraser, former Wallabies captain John Eales and Olympic champions Steve Hooker, Matthew Mitcham and Malcolm Page.

Originally published as Aussie track star Bendere Oboya joins Peter Bol’s training group, eyes 800m in Paris Olympics