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Seven Australian athletes, who currently hold 10 world records, are the reason why Australia’s track and field team manager Alison Campbell is quietly confident of success in Tokyo.
”We’ve got expectations that our team will exceed performances from Rio. It’s hard to predict by how much because we haven’t had the opportunity to compete against the rest of the world since Dubai in November 2019,” Campbell said.
“But we’ve got a number of athletes in personal-best form at the time they need to be.”
Australia won 26 medals in athletics at Rio 2016 – three gold, nine silver and 14 bronze.
Off the back of the talents of those seven – Jaryd Clifford (1500m, 5000m, marathon), Corey Anderson (javelin), Madi de Rozario (800m), Isis Holt (100m), James Turner (100m, 400m), Michael Roeger (marathon) and Vanessa Low (long jump) – the Australian track and field team are aiming to exceed their gold medal achievements in Rio.
Athletics won 10 gold in Beijing 2008, followed by five gold in London 2016 and three in Rio.
Campbell said the Covid restrictions had been “testing” but not insurmountable.
“We saw that with our Olympic colleagues as well – the ability to train uninterrupted in Australia with relative freedom. Despite impacts on international travel and competition access, with the support of the state sports institutes, our athletes have had an ongoing ability to prepare with minimal disruption despite lockdowns all over the country,” she said.
Alongside the skills of the 36-member athletics team with 13 debutants plus two guides, is an experienced coaching line-up.
Coach Iryna Dvoskina is at her seventh Paralympics as a coach. There are two Paralympic gold medallists in Hamish Macdonald (shot put) and Louise Sauvage (wheelchair track and road) in the coaching ranks in Tokyo, along with input from Paul Pearce and Mike Barber.
“Paul and Mike have coached athletes to both the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic teams,” Campbell said.
“Javelin thrower Jayden Sawyer trains with Kelsey-Lee Barber and our sprinters Isis Holt and Riley Day are training partners under Paul. So that’s a significant achievement for these coaches as well.”
There are four event groups within the team: Distance, Sprints and Jumps, Wheelchair Track and Road, and Throws.
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Distance – Team Coach Philo Saunders:
“Everyone is in the best shape they could be. Covid hasn’t stopped that from happening. They’re prepared and ready to go. I’m expecting big things from them all.”
Clifford is in Saunders’ stable and will run in the T12-T13 (combined) vision-impaired class. They have decided to dispense with a guide in the 5000m, which Clifford used at the 2019 Dubai World Championships to claim gold.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete – he’s run without a guide the last couple of 5000s he’s done. He hasn’t had the same sort of fatigue problems with his vision that he originally had,” Saunders said.
“His strength is his change of pace and he’s obviously super-fit as well. If he needs to make a move he’ll have more freedom without a guide.
“Whereas in the marathon he can’t see corners coming up, he can’t see drink stations, he’s never run the course before so he’d struggle without a guide. “
Clifford and arm amputee Michael Roeger each broke their disability class marathon world records in Sydney in April this year. They arrive in Tokyo at short odds for gold.
“They’ve embraced it,” Saunders said. “They both know they’re going in as the favourites and they’re happy with that. Their expectations are to win gold and Jaryd is hoping for gold in all three events.
“Michael is also in terrific shape and a class act. The heat will sort a lot of people out but we’re preparing for all that with pacing strategies, hydration and nutrition.”
The marathon is on the final day of competition, Sunday September 5.
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Sprints and Jumps – Team Coach Iryna Dvoskina
“They’re all ready to compete because they have been through so much already. Our business is athletics and we have come here to do our business,” Dvoskina said.
“It’s not about who is fastest in the world rankings, who was fastest or best in the last World Championships or Paralympics, it is all about who is fastest on the day in Tokyo.”
Scott Reardon (100m, T63) and Vanessa Low (long jump T61) won gold medals in Rio in their events, although Low competed for Germany. She is married to Reardon and now is an Australian citizen.
Reardon missed the 2019 World Championships with a hamstring injury and has been plagued by some niggling injuries since taking gold at the 2017 world titles.
“Scott has been inconsistent since the 2017 worlds so for him to get to Tokyo injury-free is already a ‘win’. But now he is here and that means he’s ready to race,” Dvoskina said.
Evan O’Hanlon (100m, T38) won gold in Beijing, London and silver in Rio in this event. He is at his fourth Paralympics and is trying to make the Australian Winter Olympic team in bobsleigh.
“He’s been training for two sports – bobsleigh and running,” Dvoskina said. “And I think athletics has helped his bobsleigh because he needs to be explosive and fast.”
Wheelchair Track and Road – Team Coach Louise Sauvage
Madison de Rozario is the 2017 World Champion in 5000m and the 2019 World Champion in the 800m. She also holds the 800m World Record. She will also race the 1500m and marathon in the combined T53-54 class.
“We’ve done the best preparation we can given our situation in NSW being in lockdown. We’ve been very fortunate in having the NSW Institute of Sport still open for us to train,” Sauvage said.
“We’re prepared as well as we can, anticipating the heat. We’ve had a few dramas with chairs but we’re almost there.”
Sauvage had to make a mercy dash to the ACT border to have a racing chair repaired by specialist mechanics at the AIS in Canberra. Due to Covid she could not cross into the ACT from NSW so handed the chair over – then waited for its return to drive it back to Sydney.
Throws – Team Coach Hamish Macdonald
Jayden Sawyer won the 2017 World Championships gold medal in javelin and Corey Anderson won the 2019 world title – both in the F38 class for cerebral palsy athletes.
“Guys like Corey and Jayden have managed to get in some quality training,” Macdonald said. “The opportunity we had to come out from Covid-affected areas to get to Cairns in north Queensland and fine-tune things will stand everyone in good stead.
“But on current form three of our nine throwers have great podium potential – Michael Burian (javelin F64), Sarah Edmiston (discus F44) and Guy Henly (discus F37).
“And from the others we have ‘big occasion’ performers like Todd Hodgetts (gold London 2012 Paralympics). We also have two former World Champions in Corey and Jayden. So if they throw at their absolute best they’re in the mix.”
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By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 26 August 2021
