Hauser embraces the heat of Games
A PRE-Olympic Games camp in the Far North has Matthew Hauser primed for a tilt at gold.
Hauser, Aaron Royle and Jake Birtwhistle will wear the green and gold in the men’s triathlon, which starts at 7.30am on Monday.
And Hauser is ready to go. The Hervey Bay-born, Gold Coast-based athlete is in good form after a series of triumphs in the lead-up to the Olympics, which included the Oceania Triathlon Championships and Cup at Port Douglas.
He finished second in the Championship and first in the Cup a fortnight later, in races which featured the best athletes from Australia and New Zealand, and the world No.30 said his stint in FNQ had helped his preparation. Based primarily at Kewarra Beach, Hauser and his teammates trained at various locations between Cairns and Port Douglas to help them acclimatise to the conditions expected in Tokyo.
He said he approached the races at Port Douglas by treating them as if they featured the world’s best athletes, allowing him to picture and try to emulate how competitive it will be when he hits the starting line at his first Olympics.
“I’m going in with no expectations,” Hauser said.
“It (was) a different preparation, but it (was) just about getting everything right.”
Australia took six athletes to Tokyo courtesy of the new qualification process. Hauser is expected to race in both the individual and mixed relay, the latter of which makes its first appearance at an Olympics.
Hauser and Birtwhistle were part of Australia’s gold medal-winning mixed relay at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, and that experience has motivated Hauser for greater success.
“I’m feeling really confident,” he said.
Ash Gentle, Jaz Hedgeland and Emma Jeffcoat will compete in the women’s triathlon on Tuesday.