Walk on the safe side

Gold medal chance to take no risks

Olympic bronze medal walker Dane Bird-Smith will politely decline any more school visits in an effort to stay fit and healthy for April’s Commonwealth Games.

The 20km specialist will line up as one of the favourites on the Gold Coast after gutsing out a national title earlier this month in Adelaide despite battling a poorly timed virus.

Bird-Smith will base himself a few hours north of the Gold Coast at Rainbow Beach ahead of the Games, providing what he describes as a quarantinelike training environment.

“As athletes we’re on this knife edge; we train so hard so the potential to fall off the other side and get sick is so real,” he said.

“It just happened at the wrong time for me ... in the leadup I did quite a few school visits, not blaming it on the kids or anything, but hygiene probably isn’t quite as great out there.

“That’s something I’ll have to take in my stride and in the next couple of weeks I will disappear to Rainbow Beach for plenty of heat, humidity and crazy amounts of training.”

The 25-year-old continued Australia’s great Olympic walking streak in Rio with the country’s sixth medal in the last four Games.

He will shoulder the bulk of Australia’s walking hopes given London Olympic 50km champion and reigning Commonwealth 20km champion Jared Tallent is sidelined with a hamstring injury.

“I can’t wait to show the world that the best of me is yet to come,” he said.

Australia named its 51-strong athletics team on Sunday night following the nationals on the Gold Coast.

While Bird-Smith will be among the gold medal contenders, Steve Moneghetti, the country’s chef de mission, is most impressed with the country’s sprinting stocks.

Trae Williams’ 100m time of 10.10sec – the fastest by an Aussie in 11 years – lit up the nationals while 17-year-old Riley Day became the youngest woman to win the 100m-200m double.

“Men’s sprinting, I haven’t said those two words together and been excited about it for quite some time,” Moneghetti said.

Defending Commonwealth Games champions Sally Pearson (100m hurdles) and Dani Stevens (discus) will return as strong gold medal chances.

Australia won six able-bodied athletics gold medals four years ago in Glasgow, compared to 14 in Melbourne in 2006.

Moneghetti said the depth was there to eclipse previous medal hauls.

“If they perform at the Games like they’ve done (at the national titles) it’s going to be amazing,” he said.