Lachlan Tame decided he wanted to compete at the Olympics after making a drunken bet with friends

If not for a drunken bet, Lachlan Tame wouldn’t be on his way to a second Olympic Games in Tokyo.

IF not for a drunken bet, Lachlan Tame wouldn’t be on his way to a second Olympic Games in Tokyo.

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One night in October 2010 at his native Avoca Beach surf club, Tame and his mates raised the prospect of competing in the Coolangatta Gold ironman race before Tame elevated the stakes.

“I told them I was going to go to the Olympics for kayaking,” Tame said.

“I thought it was going to be easy and that I had heaps of time once the bet started to qualify for London 2012.”

Tame was quickly met with doubt, one of his mates even betting $5000 that he wouldn’t make it.

Gold Coast based paddler Lachlan Tame in action. Pic: Paddle Australia

Tame was a talented surf-ski paddler at the time but two months later at his first kayaking regatta, he fell out of the boat on his first stroke.

“From that point forward, I realised it was going to be pretty difficult,” Tame admitted.

While London was out of the equation, Tame continued to grind away at the sport, securing an AIS scholarship in 2012 and moving to the Gold Coast in 2014 before qualifying for the 2016 Rio games.

Pairing with former Beijing Olympic kayak champion Ken Wallace in the K2-1000m, Tame said he could still remember the day of the final vividly.

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“You take it for granted at the time because you’re so goal-driven chasing perfection and medals, you forget how lucky we are to do what we do,” Tame said.

“I remember having a sore throat waking up, I remember the coffee I had that morning and I remember being so relaxed in the warm-up and thinking any medal would have been a bonus.

“Every other race I’m sh**ing myself but I was just like ah well, I’ve given this absolutely everything and only three minutes stand between me and whatever is going to happen.

“Crossing that line, I remember two beeps (as other boats crossed the line) and the pain is killing you but I was thinking ‘we better be next’ and then I heard a third beep and knew it was ours.”

Kayakers, Lachlan Tame and Ken Wallace with their bronze medals as the Australian Olympians are welcomed home at Sydney Airport. pic Mark Evans

A bronze medal was the icing on Tame’s cake six years on from his initial wager.

Following Rio, Tame underwent surgery on his troublesome shoulder in May 2018 and took a prolonged break from the sport.

“My shoulder had been bad since August 2017 to the point I couldn’t even throw a tennis ball so at that point, I thought if I’m having this surgery, it will be for the rest of my life so I can surf but then I also want to focus on rehabilitation so I can best the best athlete I could be,” he said.

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Now, Tame is fully healed and back for one last crack at Olympic glory after qualifying for Team Australia.

“I’m only back to chase a gold medal,” Tame said.

“I believe I still have an amazing performance to put out there, I just have to try and bring it at the right time.

“The older you get, the more you overthink stuff but I still believe there’s a bit of talent left in me and at the end of the day, it’s just another race.”

Olympic Kayaker Lachie Tame poses for photographs at the International Regatta Centre in Penrith on Thursday 13 February, 2020. Australian Kayakers Lachie Tame....Olympian, Riley Fitzsimmons, Kailey Harlen and Ella Beere. (AAP IMAGE / Angelo Velardo)

The 31-year-old has also been forced to push back his retirement plans by a few more months after the Tokyo games were postponed to 2021 amid coronavirus fears.

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Tame is expected to compete in the K4 in Tokyo alongside Riley Fitzsimmons, Jordan Wood and Murray Stewart.

“My retirement has been pushed back another year,” the self-employed builder said.

“I’m locked in and in the scheme of things, we’re in very lucky circumstance compared to other countries around the world.

“It just gives us another few months to keep training and put ourselves in a better place.”