JETTING OFF TO GAMES AFTER PERFECT WARM-UP
THERE was little chance steeplechaser Matt Clarke was going to get his luggage lost in transit as he joined members of the Australian athletics team at the Cairns Airport on Sunday bound for the Tokyo Olympics.
The monogrammed bags are just some of the perks for the 26year-old as he embarks on his first Olympic campaign after an intense training camp in Cairns which he labelled as the “perfect preparation”.
“The weather’s been nice and warm, getting us ready for it and I think everyone’s been finding form at the right time, so I’m going over there with a lot of confidence and I think everyone else is too,” he said.
IT WAS a combination of relief and excitement as the first wave of athletes and officials from the Australian Olympic athletics team departed Cairns for Tokyo on Sunday morning.
Members of the team have been in the Far North Queensland city for the past two weeks to put the finishing touches on their Olympic preparations.
Australian 1500m runner Linden Hall (right) who was part of the first group to depart Cairns on Sunday, could not hide her enthusiasm ahead of joining the Aussies in the Olympic Village.
“It’s so exciting to finally get on the plane, especially with the competition already getting underway and watching it on TV,” she said.
“It feels really weird still being in Australia, so I think it will be really exciting to head over there and join the rest of the team, and get involved in all the atmosphere and start supporting everyone.
“I think seeing it all on social media and TV, you’re almost a little bit jealous that you’re not there yet.”
Hall, who clocked her second-fastest time of 4:00.00 in a mixed 1500m race in Cairns last Sunday, was determined to fulfil her dream in Tokyo, after falling agonisingly short in Rio.
“I really want to make a final,” Hall said.
“I was the first person to miss out in Rio, so that sucked and I really don’t want to do that again.
“I think I missed it by 0.21 of a second, so that’s haunted me a little bit over the last five years, but the last year has been really good for me, after I had a few injuries in 2019, so I’m hoping the bonus year plays in my favour.”
Steeplechaser Matthew Clarke, who is off to his first Olympics, said it was a relief to finally be heading over.
“We’ve all been waiting a pretty long time for it, after it was pushed back a year, but as soon as you’re named in the team all you want to do is get over there and compete,” he said.
Clarke said he didn’t really know what to expect ahead of his first Olympic Games experience, which will be unlike any before, but he was excited all the same.
“I messaged one of my mates, Matt Hauser, he’s a triathlete over there, and just asked him about the Village, and he said it’s another world over there,” he said.
“I’m pretty excited to get over, to be honest.” He said the pre-staging camp in Cairns had been “the perfect preparation”.
“The weather’s been nice and warm getting us ready for it and I think everyone’s been finding form at the right time, so I’m going over there with a lot of confidence, and I think everyone else is too,” he said.
“My goal over there is to just kind of show what I can really do. I haven’t really run overseas a lot recently, just with Covid and everything, so it’ll be a good chance to test myself against the best in the world.”
The athletic events will get underway in the second week, starting on July 30.