Opinion: Can Australia achieve another golden age of runners?

It’s many decades since Australia was a world-beater in middle-distance running, but there are signs of a renaissance, writes Peter Gleeson.

They are household names, goliaths of the middle-distance running world: Herb Elliott, Ron Clarke, John Landy, etched into the nation’s sporting folklore.

And then along came the all-conquering Africans. We’ve watched in awe as the Kenyans and Ethiopians dominated at the highest level.

Those halcyon days of Australian dominance in the 1950s and 1960s have vanished.

But maybe there’s a glimmer of hope, and if perseverance and dedication and the ability to overcome adversity is what’s required to do well at an Olympics, Australia has found a rising star.

Jye Edwards, who went to Shellharbour Primary and Warilla High School in southern NSW, is lucky to be walking, let alone running Olympic qualifier times for the 1500m.

At 23, his body has been put through the wringer, with knee and hip injuries and shin splints plaguing his preparation over the past four years.

But it was an achilles heel injury that almost derailed his Olympic dream.

After being a promising junior during his days at the Albion Park Little Athletics club, Edwards was forced to have surgery on the achilles heel in 2018.

He was in a moon boot for many weeks, and did not even jog for nine months.

For his parents Derek and Angie, these were dark days.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much adversity he’s had with injuries,’’ said Derek.

“When he won the nationals last Sunday, his teammates were delirious because they knew what he’d been through to get to this point.

“It’s an inner strength, and Ange and I don’t know where it comes from, other than we just know he loves to run and compete.’’

When he was diagnosed with the achilles injury, specialists said Edwards would never race again unless he had the surgery.

It was a no-brainer.

The results since, including a 3.33.99 win at the nationals beating Tasmanian star Stewart McSweyn, to qualify for Tokyo, have been spectacular, despite being constantly unable to put together adequate training schedules.

Under legendary coach Dick Telford, for Jye the past six months has been thankfully injury-free, albeit a recurring calf niggle halted the nationals preparation for two weeks.

But that’s the lot of a world class middle distance runner. Pushing through the pain barrier is part and parcel of the journey.

Jye knows Australia’s rich middle distance history but just making the 1500m final at Tokyo is now the ultimate aim.

Daring to dream beyond that does not sit comfortably with the quietly spoken young man.

He is so humble that just the smallest fist pump was observed after the nationals, the first time he’s ever really showed any emotion after a win.

Of course, Herb Elliott was a freak, winning gold at the Rome Olympics in 1960, and is universally lauded as one of the greatest runners of all time.

In 1965, Clarke competed in Europe on 18 occasions, and broke 12 world records.

He was the first man to break 28 minutes for the 10,000m.

Landy was the second man to break the four minute mile and was a former 1500m world record holder.

They were the trailblazers.

With Queensland likely to be announced two days before the Tokyo Olympics in July as the host of the 2032 Games, it’s stories like those of Jye Edwards that will inspire the next generation of runners.

For Derek and Angie Edwards, he’s already their golden boy.

Herb Elliott in 1961

Originally published as Opinion: Can Australia achieve another golden age of runners?