SPRINT TO FINISH LINE
Games boss reveals work still to be done
MERMAID Waters triathlete Matt Hauser is about to undergo a three-month training blitz in his quest to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in April.
He will be churning out 250km on his bike, 50km on foot and 25km in the pool each week. The task is equally arduous for Gold Coast Games boss Mark Peters who, on the three-month countdown today, has given an exclusive insight into the work still to be done to ensure the city’s biggest ever event is a global blockbuster.
Seating for 60,000 spectators needs to be installed across the Games venues;
About 300 temporary facilities, including kitchens and medical centres, have to be erected at the athletes village;
The hunt continues for major backers to ensure organisers reach their almost $100 million sponsorship target; and
Nearly 200,000 of the 1.2 million tickets to events remain up for grabs, the equivalent of filling Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium almost four times.
“We’re 90 days out and there’s a hell of a lot to be done but, as we keep saying, we’re on time, we’re on budget – but we’re all tired,” Mr Peters laughed.
SKYE Nicolson has entered the zone.
Three months before her maiden Commonwealth Games bursts to life, the Yatala boxer has flown to Canberra for a training camp that essentially won’t end until the biggest fights of her life.
“It’s so important to be surrounded by people going through the same journey you are,” the 22-year-old said of living and training alongside her fellow Games pugilists for the next 90 days.
“It’s going to be three months of solid, full-time training that will hopefully pay off during that couple of weeks on the Gold Coast.”
The intense training camp will see Nicolson and her teammates split their time between the Australian Institute of Sport and two high-altitude training blocks in the Philippines before moving into the Games village.
“I’m so excited my first time representing Australia at a Commonwealth or Olympic Games is in my home town,” she said.
Mermaid Waters triathlete Matt Hauser knows the feeling. “It’s been a lot to take in this last year,” the 19-year-old said of making the Games.
“It’s getting very real now.”