Crowd support just the shot
GEELONG Olympian shotputter Damien Birkinhead is hoping the Australian crowd will get behind him at April’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The 24-year-old competed at Glasgow in 2014 as well as the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, but it’s a home Games which has Birkinhead most excited.
While his spot on the team isn’t yet confirmed, Birkinhead has broken the A-qualifying distance of 20m about 20 times and holds the Australian record of 21.35m, which was set in Zagreb, Croatia last August.
“I was pretty excited at the time,” Birkinhead told the Geelong Advertiser.
“I was throwing pretty well in training and the day before I did a warm up that was probably similar distance but couldn’t get it in comp. It was my last comp in Europe, regardless of what happens, and I obviously didn’t do as I would have liked at the world champs.
“To end the whole Europe campaign with the Australian record and a PB, it was such a relief and excitement. It’s just been my goal the last five years or so and when you’ve got a goal that’s been that long ... I was pretty excited.”
A cortisone injection in his knuckle the week before Christmas extended his break over summer, before he returned to competition in the Hunter Track Classic last month.
He won there with a throw of 19.55m, but bettered that at the Victorian Country Track and Field Championships in Ballarat last weekend, landing a 20.27m throw.
“It was my first comp of the year obviously and I was a bit hit and miss,” Birkinhead said of the Hunter Track Classic.
“I didn’t know what to expect going into it. I probably would have liked a little bit more than that, because I think it might have been my lowest distance for quite a while.
“Vic Country’s was totally opposite. I felt like I warmed up and was going to throw all right, and I had a lot of promising things in that comp. I’m really looking forward to my next few comps.”
Birkinhead said it would be a massive thrill to pull on the green and gold again.
“It’s always an honour to represent your country and I’m just looking forward to the home crowd if I get to go,” he said.