Aussies plan gold rush
AUSTRALIA’S Commonwealth Games team is banking on a spike in gold medals from a home advantage at the Gold Coast to wrench back from England the top spot on the medals table.
Australia, with 49 golds, finished nine behind England at the 2014 Glasgow Games, the first time since 1986 that the Australians had not finished top of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Leading Australian swim coach Michael Bohl said the home water of the Gold Coast pool would provide a tangible lift for gold medal prospects.
Australia’s tally at our last home Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne in 2006, was a record 84 gold medals and a total of 222 medals, followed by 74 golds at the 2010 Delhi Games and 49 at the 2014 Glasgow Games.
Swimming provided Australia with 19 of its 49 gold medals in Glasgow.
It was a formidable return, as it was the same total of golds Australia managed in Melbourne in 2006, when Libby Trickett won five golds and future Olympic champion Stephanie Rice had a breakthrough meet.
Bohl said his experience from swimming at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games reinforced his belief that a home-meet bounce is coming when competition starts on Thursday.
“The grandstand at the Southport pool is twice the size [of the one in Brisbane],” Bohl said. “It’s going to be very, very noisy, a real lift for our swimmers to produce more benchmark swims.”
Australia’s head swim coach Jacco Verhaeren said: “We have a great swim team and our own expectations are high. There is an official medal count [projection] … it’s always a lot. To think it’s going to be an easy run would be an absolute underestimation of what’s coming towards us [from Canadian and English Olympic champions] in the pool.
“It’s good that actual competition is there between Australia and England in all sports because it’s a great driver for success.”
Australia’s athletics head coach Craig Hilliard said he would not be drawn on medal forecasts for the team, but spoke of about 12 targeted events.
Australia won eight athletics golds, including two for athletes with a disability, in Glasgow and 16 at the 2006 Melbourne edition. Australia won gold in nine Games sports four years ago, with cycling (seven), shooting (six) and hockey (two) contributing well. The host country welcomes back basketball, a possible two-gold pick-up, in the 2018 Games.