Cairns athlete Liam Gilbert has eye on Olympic dream

Cairns teenager Liam Gilbert believes this year could be the most rewarding of his athletic career, but he is under no illusion that it will also be his toughest.

Cairns teenager Liam Gilbert believes this year could be the most rewarding of his athletic career, but he is under no illusion that it will also be his toughest.

The rising decathlete, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Monday, is deep in the throes of his preparations for the 2021Australian Track and Field Championships, to be held in Sydney from April 12-21.

But that event will just be the entree for Gilbert before he tackles a gut-busting multi-course degustation at the World Junior Championships in Kenya this August.

“I’ve got about 10 weeks until nationals, so the goal is to build into that and hopefully try get the win there, and obviously coming away with a PB would be good,” he said.

Cairns athlete Liam Gilbert has qualified for the decathlon at the World Athletics Under 20s World Championships in Kenya. Picture: Brendan Radke

“With how the qualifying standards work, if I win at national champs, I’ll get an automatic spot in the team.

“If I don’t, I’ll most likely still be selected on a discretion selection because I’ve already got the qualifier.”

Gilbert won gold in the under-20s decathlon at the Queensland Combined Event Championships late last year.

He finished on 7132 points, which also satisfied the World Junior Championships qualifying standard of 7100.

Cairns athlete Liam Gilbert has qualified for the decathlon at the World Athletics Under 20s World Championships in Kenya. Picture: Brendan Radke

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Gilbert said his training would go to another level leading into World Juniors, with a focus on his “weaker” events, such as the pole vault and javelin throw.

“I never competed in javelin when I was younger so it’s really only been over the last few years since I started decathlon,” he said.

“And, with pole vault not being as common of an event, we’ve just recently gotten access to facilities.

“It’s definitely one of those events that takes a lot more time and dedication, and something I need to work on and try and make up points in.

Cairns athlete Liam Gilbert has qualified for the decathlon at the World Athletics Under 20s World Championships in Kenya. Picture: Brendan Radke

“My strongest events are the hurdles and then probably shot and discus. It’s a bit of an odd one as they’re at opposite ends of the spectrum, but I find that’s where I’m able to gain most points on the other competitors.

“Leading into World Juniors, the main focus would be just touching on those strengths and really trying to build up those weaknesses.”

After the World Junior Championships, Gilbert plans to move to Brisbane to study sport and exercise science.

But he will continue to pursue his athletics and his Olympic dream.

Cairns athlete Liam Gilbert has qualified for the decathlon at the World Athletics Under 20s World Championships in Kenya. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It’s been a goal of mine since I’ve been a young age,” he said.

“Another long-term goal would have to be the World University Games. I think it’s a good bridging comp and would be another good international-level comp to help me build towards the Olympics in the future.”

In Brisbane, Gilbert will train alongside Cedric Dubler, who was Australia’s first Olympic decathlete in 16 years in Rio 2016 and will compete at Tokyo 2021.

“He’s been a pretty big inspiration of mine,” he said.

“I’m pretty close with a few of the older open decathletes.

“It will be good just having a different training environment and for those older guys to really push me in training and hopefully help me excel.”

Originally published as Cairns athlete Liam Gilbert has eye on Olympic dream