Beach volleyball duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy lead 97 SA athletes in Tokyo 2020 Olympics contention
From athletics to swimming and archery to weightlifting, we present the 97 South Australians in Tokyo 2020 Olympics contention. Leading the way is a beach volleyball duo with their sights set on gold.
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Mariafe Artacho del Solar does not need to look far for Olympic inspiration when she wakes up each morning.
The SA-based beach volleyball gun, half of Australia’s world No. 5 pairing alongside Taliqua Clancy, has a printout of a gold medal hanging beside her bed.
As the countdown to the Tokyo Games reached 200 days this week, del Solar said the picture kept her focused on the ultimate goal after a testing six months.
“Every time I wake up, that medal is hanging right in front of me,” del Solar, 26, said.
“I’m a sucker for visualisation – I think it’s a powerful thing.
“I visualise ourselves on the podium at the Olympics celebrating and it just gives me goosebumps.
“I live that moment every day and that’s kind of a part of my training.
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“The fact that Tokyo is just around the corner feels pretty surreal, but it’s really exciting that we are here and ready to go.”
According to an Advertiser study, Del Solar/Clancy are among at least 97 SA athletes across 21 sports in contention for Olympic selection as the road to Tokyo enters the home straight.
From athletics to swimming and archery to weightlifting, competitors born in the state or based here will ramp up their Games bids at a raft of qualifying events at home and abroad.
But the run-in to 2020 has not been without its hurdles for the country’s top-ranked beach partnership, which came together just over two years ago.
The reigning Commonwealth Games silver medallists battled their way to third at the world championships in Germany in July, while del Solar struggled with a nagging knee injury.
Scans later revealed damage to her medial collateral ligament, resulting in seven weeks in a knee brace for the Peru-born talent and four months off the World Tour for the duo.
But an intensive rehabilitation program and the opportunity to “reset” in their adopted home town helped the combination return to the sand in November.
They claimed victory in their second tournament back, the $15,000 Chetumal Open in Mexico.
“That was huge,” said Queenslander Clancy, who has been part of Volleyball Australia’s beach program in Adelaide since 2008, three years longer than del Solar.
“Everything happens for a reason and everything has a learning opportunity in it.
“But I’m definitely hungry for more and I’m always wanting to get a better result.
“It (the Olympic dream) is definitely present every day.
“It’s a massive goal we’ve committed to and we’ve had some really great results in the past.
“It’s such an amazing feeling that we can now taste that podium and a medal.”
The pair recommenced training last week following a short Christmas break, plotting their path to a top-16 ranking by June and an expected automatic qualifying berth for Tokyo.
They hope to feature in the SA Open at Glenelg from Friday, before ramping up preparations for their season-opening international competition on the Gold Coast in March.
Del Solar said lessons from Rio, where she made her Olympic debut alongside Nicole Laird and Clancy reached the quarter-finals with Louise Bawden, is driving their pursuit of gold.
“I watched a lot and absorbed a lot and learned what it takes to be at the top,” del Solar said.
“It made me really motivated to come back home and work hard and put myself in that position again.
“It (a gold medal) is definitely something we can achieve.
“It’s just a matter of trusting in ourselves and continuing to grow.”
SA TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS CONTENDERS
AQUATICS
Swimming
Madison Wilson, Brittany Castelluzzo (women), Kyle Chalmers, Travis Mahoney, James McKechnie, Josh Palmer (men)
Reigning Olympic and Commonwealth champion Chalmers spearheads the state’s swimming hopefuls, who will aim to lock in Games selection at the national trials at Marion in June.
Diving
Kate Rosman (women’s 3m springboard), Nikita Hains (women’s 10m platform), Matthew Carter (men’s 3m springboard)
World synchro champion Carter, along with Croweater Rosman and WA-born, SA-based Hains will look to secure their spots at the Australian Olympic trials in Sydney in June.
Water polo
Isobel Bishop (women)
Left-hand driver Bishop has already helped the Stingers qualify for Tokyo and will now aim to cement her place at a second Olympics after winning world championship bronze last year.
ARCHERY
David Barnes (men’s individual)
Athens 2004 Olympian Barnes will vie for one of Australia’s three male berths in Tokyo at this month’s nomination event in Brisbane and next month’s Australian Open at Victor Harbor.
ATHLETICS
Claire Tallent (women’s racewalk), Jessica Trengove (women’s marathon), Jared Tallent (men’s racewalk), Max Stevens (men’s 3000m steeplechase), Kurtis Marschall (men’s pole vault), Henry Frayne (men’s long jump)
SA contenders, including Perth-based Commonwealth champion Marschall and Brisbane-based Frayne, will need to achieve set IAAF world rankings or entry standards for their respective events before the end of qualification periods on May 31 (road) and June 29 (track and field).
BADMINTON
No SA athletes in contention.
BASEBALL
Josh Tols, Curtis Mead
Australia will look to win the Final Qualifying Tournament in Taiwan in April to earn a Tokyo berth, with US-based Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Josh Tols almost certain to feature and Tampa Bay Rays young gun Curtis Mead a potential national squad bolter.
BASKETBALL
Abby Bishop, Tess Madgen, Stephanie Talbot, Cayla George, Nicole Seekamp, Lauren Mansfield (women), Joe Ingles (men)
The Opals need to finish in the top three of their group at next month’s Olympic qualification tournament in France to secure their spot, while the Boomers have already qualified via their fourth-place finish at last year’s world championships.
BOXING
Adrian Cammarano (men’s middleweight)
Croweater Cammarano won a silver medal at the nationals in Melbourne in December and remains an outside chance for Tokyo selection, should middleweight champion Kirra Ruston fail to perform at the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament in China next month.
CANOE SPRINT
Catherine McArthur (women’s K2), Bernadette Wallace/Josephine Bulmer (women’s C2), Matt Goble (men’s K1)
Goble secured victory on his home West Lakes course in the opening round of the national Grand Prix series last month and will join fellow SA hopefuls in pushing their case for Games selection at the Australian championships in Sydney in March.
CYCLING
BMX
Anthony Dean (men)
Rio Olympics finalist Dean will bid for a top-six finish at the world championships in the US in May and strong performances at back-to-back World Cup events to claim his spot.
Road
Tiffany Cromwell (women’s road race), Rohan Dennis (men’s road race, time trial)
Races in Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands in the first half of the year will go some way to determining the Olympic participation of world time trial champion Dennis and national road team captain Cromwell.
Track
Stephanie Morton, Annette Edmondson, Alex Manly, Maeve Plouffe (women), Matthew Glaetzer, Alex Porter (men)
The SA-based track talents have all but booked their ticket to Japan, barring injury or a disastrous showing at the world championships in Germany in February-March.
EQUESTRIAN
Megan Jones (women’s eventing), Scott Keach (men’s jumping)
Beijing 2008 silver medallist Jones and now US-based Keach, who competed at both the Seoul 1988 and Rio 2016 Games, will push for Tokyo selection at a series of upcoming World Cup events.
FENCING
No SA athletes in contention.
FOOTBALL
Riley McGree, Al Hassan Toure, Daniel Margush, Lachlan Brook, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (men), Jenna McCormick, Emma Checker, Sarah Willacy, Alex Chidiac (women)
The Australian men’s side will vie for one of three qualifying berths at this month’s Asian under-23 championship in Thailand, while the Matildas will bid for one of two spots up for grabs at the Olympic qualifying tournament in February-March.
GOLF
Adam Scott (men)
Adelaide-born 2013 Masters champion Scott is currently ranked inside the world’s top-15 golfers, who will automatically qualify for the Games as of the June 22 cut-off.
GYMNASTICS
Claire Arthur (women’s trampoline)
Arthur finished 27th at the world championships in Tokyo in November and will aim to accumulate enough ranking points at World Cup events in Azerbaijan in February and Italy in April to earn a top-16 ranking and an Olympic berth.
HANDBALL
No SA athletes in contention.
HOCKEY
Jane Claxton, Miki Spano, Gabrielle Nance, Karri McMahon (women), Lachlan Busiko (men)
Both the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras have already qualified for Tokyo, leaving the FIH Pro League between January-June as SA players’ best chance to nail down a squad spot.
JUDO
No SA athletes in contention.
KARATE
Michelle Wilson (women’s over-70kg kumite)
Karate will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo and 10-time national champion Wilson will aim to qualify in the sparring discipline via her world ranking or a qualification tournament in France in May.
MODERN PENTATHLON
No SA athletes in contention.
ROWING
Olympia Aldersey (women’s four), Molly Goodman (women’s eight), Alex Hill (men’s four)
World champions Aldersey and Goodman, along with Rio Olympics silver medallist Hill, are all leading contenders to compete at their second Games as key members of Rowing Australia’s National Training Centre.
RUGBY SEVENS
No SA athletes in contention.
SAILING
No SA athletes in contention.
SHOOTING
Victoria Rossiter, Emma Adams, Katarina Kowplos, Emma Woodroofe (women’s rifle), Alison Heinrich (women’s pistol), Lisa Smith, Antonia Loizos (women’s trap), Bridgette McKinnon (women’s skeet), Dane Sampson, Michael Nicholas, Jack Rossiter, Alex Hoberg (men’s rifle)
A raft of SA shooters have registered minimum quota scores in the past 12 months to become eligible for Olympic selection and will now battle it out in a series of qualifying events, starting with the Commonwealth and national shotgun championships in Newcastle this month.
SKATEBOARDING
No SA athletes in contention.
SOFTBALL
Belinda White, Maddie Cameron
National vice-captain White helped the Aussie Spirit secure its Olympic place at September’s qualifiers in China, while Cameron will look to regain her spot before the final squad is announced in late May.
SPORT CLIMBING
No SA athletes in contention.
SURFING
No SA athletes in contention.
TABLE TENNIS
No SA athletes in contention.
TAEKWONDO
Ruth Hock (women’s under-67kg), Damon Cavey (men’s under-68kg), Tyrone Staben (men’s under-80kg)
The SA trio will compete at the Oceania Qualification Tournament on the Gold Coast on February 29 as they stake a claim for their ticket to Tokyo.
TENNIS
Thanasi Kokkinakis, Alex Bolt (men)
World No. 157 Bolt and currently sidelined No. 198 Kokkinakis appear unlikely to land one of the automatic qualifying spots awarded to the globe’s top-56 singles players, but they might be an outside chance to secure a berth as the Oceania region’s highest-ranked non-qualified player.
TRIATHLON
No SA athletes in contention.
VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball
Beth Carey, Rebecca Reeve, Tara Maland (women), Harry Peacock (men)
Australia will battle it out for the sole Tokyo spots on offer at this month’s women’s Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Thailand and the corresponding men’s event in China.
Beach volleyball
Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho del Solar, Phoebe Bell/Jess Nguamo, Nikki Laird/Becchara Palmer (women), Chris McHugh/Zachary Schubert, Damien Schumann/Cole Durant (men)
World No. 5 pairing Clancy/del Solar is likely to qualify for Tokyo via a top-16 rank, while the remaining male and female teams will hope to earn berths at June’s Continental Cup.
WEIGHTLIFTING
Kiana Elliott (women’s 64kg), Stephanie Davies (women’s 76kg)
SA-based Oceania record-holder Elliott is a strong chance to maintain her top regional ranking until the end of April and claim her Olympic spot, while Commonwealth Games representative Davies remains in contention, despite recently relocating to New Zealand.
WRESTLING
No SA athletes in contention.
Originally published as Beach volleyball duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy lead 97 SA athletes in Tokyo 2020 Olympics contention