The Australian athlete who sacrificed a slice of his finger for his Olympic dream

As Kookaburra Aran Zalewski explains it, most elite athletes would give an arm and a leg to compete at the Olympics. So the Australian men’s hockey team is firmly behind their teammate Matthew Dawson, who gave up a slice of a finger.

Just a few weeks before hockey player Dawson was due to compete in Paris, he broke a finger on his right hand in a practice match in Perth. “He had a collision, and his finger was kind of hanging off,” said Zalewski. “There was a bit of shock within the team.

Kookaburra Matthew Dawson sacrificed part of his finger for the Olympics.Credit: Getty Images

“Then we heard that he went to hospital and [doctors] chopped some of his finger off.”

Dawson had to choose quickly between a cast and partial amputation, and felt the latter was the best option. “I made an informed decision with the plastic surgeon at the time not only for the opportunity to play in Paris but for life after as well,” he said at the time.

The amputation made global news, sparking debate over whether a slice of a digit was too much of a sacrifice even for the Olympics. On Tuesday, Zalewski said Dawson’s team was squarely behind him.

“I think for him it was an easy decision,” he said. “For people that maybe don’t sit in our shoes, and maybe wouldn’t see it the same way, when you’ve spent a lifetime of choice and sacrifice to come and compete at the highest level, I think it was an easy decision.”

Matthew Dawson, pictured here during the Tokyo Games, opted to amputate part of his finger to compete in Paris. Credit: Getty

The Kookaburras, who play their first match against Argentina on Saturday, are also hoping their longest-serving member and five-time Olympian, Eddie Ockenden, will be recognised for his achievements by being chosen as Australian flag bearer for the opening ceremony.

Australian Chef de Mission Anna Meares chooses the male and female flag bearers herself, unlike other countries such as the United States in which athletes vote (this year they voted for basketballer LeBron James; his female counterpart will be chosen on Tuesday).

Ockenden is a favourite, as is world and Olympic champion canoeist Jessica Fox, who is chasing three gold medals in Paris.

The flag bearers will be announced on Wednesday, local time.

Meantime, Australian athletics medal hopes Matt Denny and Brandon Starc were forced into quarantine, away from the rest of the team after Denny came down with a stomach complaint.

Denny, a contender in the discus, was bedridden on Tuesday and high jumper Starc was also isolating, although he was not unwell.

They were expected to return to training in Montpellier on Wednesday.

Meares also revealed that a member of the Australian water polo team had been diagnosed with COVID.

“A this stage we’re treating this like any other respiratory [disease] that falls under our respiratory illness protocols. We temporarily isolate them until the symptoms subside and the tests come back clear,” she said.

A second player has since tested positive but was well enough to train on Tuesday.

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With Michael Gleeson