Time to forget negativity and controversy surrounding Rio and focus on the athletes

I’M done with the bad energy. Let’s leave Russia, Kitty Chiller, Zika and crime at the Rio door and focus on what the Olympics is really about - the athletes.

Rosie Webster will lead Australia’s women's water polo team. Picture: Alex Coppel.

SO much has been going on in the lead-up to the Rio Olympics and much of the debate has been tainted with negativity and controversy.

I’ve heard enough opinions about Kitty Chiller and her role as chef de mission.

The Zika virus is a serious issue and, when someone pulls out because of it, let’s not analyse the decision but simply accept it and move on.

And then there’s the horrendous Russia doping situation. Of course they should be banned from the Games.

But I’m done with the bad energy.

With only 13 days to go, it’s time to focus on the positives of the Olympic Games and the incredible achievements of our 409 athletes over 26 sports who are making their way to Rio.

There are so many amazing stories ready to unfold. There will be 261 athletes making their Olympic debuts. The youngest, Matildas player Ellie Carpenter, is only 16 and our veteran of the team, equestrian Mary Hanna, is 61.

We will all get the opportunity to see some incredible performances where their dreams come true, right in front of our eyes.

Now is the time to take a genuine interest and show our Australian athletes how much we respect and admire their dedication and hard work by getting involved in the biggest sporting event in the world.

Rosie Webster will lead Australia’s women's water polo team. Picture: Alex Coppel.

We have so much to be proud of in this country and we should appreciate that we have a strong culture of athletes who seem to choose the blood, sweat and tears over the PEDs.

I’ve been lucky enough to train at the Victorian Institute of Sport since I was 14. I have seen many athletes — Olympians and Paralympians — training, preparing, sacrificing everything they have to get their moment to compete on the world stage.

Take Jeff Riseley for instance.

He’s arguably Australia’s most talented all-round distance runner and is heading to his third Olympics (2008, 2012), where he hopes to make the final of the men’s 800m.

No Australian male has qualified for the 800m final at an Olympics since 1968, or in the 1500m since 1976.

He has been battling an injury over the last 12 months but is racing himself into form and posted a season best time last week in Hungary (1min 45.85sec).

Then there’s Rowie Webster. This girl is a superstar and one of the most genuine athletes you’ll meet. She’s in the water polo team, but she often can be seen working at reception at VIS between training commitments.

A 200-plus game veteran and vice-captain, and one of the toughest defenders in the world, Rowie is the only Victorian in the Stingers line-up for Rio. It will be her second Olympics after she was a bronze medallist in London.

Former Victorian netballer Morgan Mitchell will make her Olympic debut in Rio in the 400m and 4x400m relay.

The men’s 100m sprint is the showpiece event of the Games.

She’s mentored by her hero, Cathy Freeman.

Morgan was unbeaten in the 400m during the 2016 season in Australia and clocked a PB of 51.25sec in June, moving up 12 places on the Australian all-time list. She got kicked off her training track during the week by Juventus, but that won’t faze her.

Mack Horton is a good medal chance in the 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle and a great story.

His vision is famously terrible, hence the spectacles, and he wears prescription goggles in the pool so he can see the black line.

He bettered Kieren Perkins’ best time in the 1500m earlier this year and now has Grant Hackett’s record in his sights.

Steeped in Olympic heritage, the coxless men’s four has produced some of the greatest races in history and some of the greatest rowing legends, including Drew Ginn and James Tomkins.

The beefed-up 2016 crew features VIS athletes Will Lockwood, Josh Booth, Josh Dunkley-Smith and South Australian Alexander Hill.

They’re hoping to go one better than the previous silver medal at the London 2012 Games.

Table tennis player Melissa Tapper will make history in Rio by becoming the first Australian to compete at the Paralympic and Olympic Games.

Nerve damage in her arm known as Erb’spalsy — sustained at birth — means Tapper has only 30 per cent use of her right arm.

Former netballer Morgan Mitchell will compete in Rio. Picture: Mike Batterham

Brooke Stratton will make her Olympic debut in Rio in the long jump.

Her PB jump of 7.05m at the Perth Track Classic in March bettered Bronwyn Thompson’s 14-year-old Australian record of 7.00m.

Her PB jump would have won her the bronze medal at the London 2012 Games and 2015 World Championships

Larissa Miller will fly the flag for Australian gymnastics, after we missed out on qualifying a team and became eligible to send only one athlete.

She won two silver medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympics.

It will be an exciting month ahead, There’s a stack more names I could introduce you to, but I’m sure by the end of Rio you will have found your own new sporting heroes to follow.

BIANCA’S THREE MUST-SEE EVENTS

• 100m men’s sprint

Usain Bolt. Already the greatest, this will be the most thrilling sub-10sec of the year.

• Swimming – 100m men’s and women’s freestyle

McEvoy is a much-watch in the 100m, so, too, the Campbell sisters going head-to-head.

• Women’s and men’s basketball final

A star-studded line up for the men, who could win a medal for the first time, and a women’s team with big changes and plenty of potential.

Originally published as Time to forget negativity and controversy surrounding Rio and focus on the athletes