Interclub competition is the neglected child of Australian athletics. Occasionally we need a reminder of what an asset it is.

My memory was given just such a jolt recently when I went searching for a quote about interclub which I had found while researching The Landy Era.

The quote came from an article in The Argus, the Melbourne daily which ceased publication in 1957. Fired up with pre-Melbourne 1956 Olympic fever, the paper had sent a columnist down to check out the opening round of the 1953-54 inter-club athletic season.

Describing the “weekly, non-stop athletic carnival,” the writer asked readers: 

“Imagine, if you can, trying to watch: 

“A gruelling finish to a mile race; A mad dash over a 120-yd flight of hurdles; Breathtaking pole-vaults; Heroic, well-timed pole-vaults; Prodigious flights by the long-jump men.

“It happens, right here in Melbourne,” our columnist assured us. “And at 1:30pm today, it will begin again.”

Acclaiming the “scope and organisation of the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association’s weekly interclub contests”, our scribe continued:

“No city, anywhere in the world, conducts such complex, regular meetings, with so many athletes in action at the same time.”

(You can access the whole article, complete with pictures, at http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/23310897 .)

Apart from minor quibbles - the correspondent being so excited he mentioned pole vault twice – the picture is substantially the same today. Oh, and there’s women, too. Back then, women’s competitions, indeed women’s associations, were separate. If readers of The Argus wanted to see women back in 1953, they either sought out reports of the women’s competitions, or turned to other, more salacious sections of the newspaper.

There is one other substantive difference, too, and I didn’t have to go to the archives to bring that one to mind. The prompt came later the very same day when Tamsyn Manou (Lewis) happened to come into the same cafe at which a group of us were having lunch.

Three days of warm spring weather in Melbourne had been replaced by the sort of classical, grey day, accompanied by persistent drizzle, which gives our city a poor reputation climate-wise.

“Just in time for interclub tomorrow,” Tamsyn remarked, a reminder not just of Melbourne’s mercurial spring weather but also of the fact she is a regular competitor in club competition. It’s part of her training.

Back in 1953, any visitor to interclub would have seen some of the country’s best athletes. John Landy ran the mile on the day The Argus reporter attended. The Monday paper, two days later (no Sunday editions then) carried two back-page reports of the competition along with a picture of a competitor in the hop, step and jump (triple jump).

There was a further report of a national junior record in women’s high jump in Brisbane. That made three stories on athletics on the back page of a major metropolitan daily. Oh, happy day.

In fact, all the way through to the 1980s, regular club competition was part of the diet of all Australia’s international stars. Landy, Betty Cuthbert, Marlene Matthews, Herb Elliott, Pam Kilborn, Graham Crouch, Raelene Boyle – you’d be likely to see all of them out in their club colours. As for Ron Clarke, his racing program for Glenhuntly was similar to his international program – prodigious.

Nor was it just club competition. There were interstate matches – Victoria v New South Wales, Victoria v South Australia – as well as a surprising number of invitational meetings. The sponsored international meeting is not a recent phenomenon.

Athletes did not ignore their training. The training bloc is likewise not a recent invention, not even the high altitude training bloc. A report of a half-mile race won by Ralph Doubell mentions that he had just returned from four weeks’ training at Falls Creek.

No, the model up until fairly recently was simply that athletes competed more often. Now, the model seems to be one in which competition is something that gets in the way of training.

It’s a mistake to over-simplify comparisons. There’s also a danger that, in looking back, we tend to examine what champions did and try to apply it across the board.

Arguably, though, our very best performed athletes still do compete often. Cathy Freeman certainly did; Sally Pearson had a full domestic season this year, as did Mitch Watt.

It didn’t do any of them any harm. Maybe there’s a lot to be said for competing more often. Melbourne’s (and Sydney’s, and Brisbane’s) weekly, non-stop athletic carnival is still running.

As many an opponent found, Cathy Freeman was a very hard person to catch.

In a sense, it was a belated recognition of a status long since awarded by most Australians. From her laps of honour with the national and aboriginal flags in Victoria, Canada, after winning the 200 and 400 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, through her epic losing battle with Marie-Jose Perec in the Atlanta Olympic 400 metres final and her two world championships gold medals, to the final climactic moment in Sydney – they had long since associated her with heroic deeds.

Fans sometimes accord legend’s status too freely – how often is the match-winning goal or game-saving mark or tackle hailed with the words: “(insert player name here), you legend!”

Similarly, those who exhibit sporadic brilliance, or endearing characteristics seen as embodying the spirit of their sport or team, can be too readily elevated to legend standing.

But rarely are fans wrong in recognising and acclaiming ‘legends’ those they have given more considered reflection. Never under-estimate the collective wisdom of those with an emotional connection to a sport.

Bodies such as the Sport Australia Hall of Fame must follow a more rigorous and more consistent process before, usually, arriving at the same outcome.

So it was with Freeman, who was elevated as the 2011 legend when most of the audience had had her there since 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999 or, if none of those, since 2000. As Bruce McAvaney (who else?) took Freeman through her career it was amazing how the goose bumps still came watching her wins in Victoria, Athens, Seville and, especially, Sydney 2000.

It was also a moment to reflect on the power of television. How fortunate we are to have available the brilliant footage of the past 20-30 years. How great would it be to see the feats of Jackson, Strickland, Landy and Elliott in such vivid detail.

Freeman becomes the seventh track and field athlete to be accorded legend status. For a sport which, justifiably in this writer’s view, sometimes sees itself as under-rated, it is an impressive number, almost double any other sport.

Tennis is next with four, each of swimming and AFL has three.

Athletics’ ‘magnificent seven’ are Freeman, Edwin Flack, Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, Shirley (Strickland) De La Hunty, John Landy, Betty Cuthbert and Herb Elliott. Tennis has Margaret Court, Evonne (Goolagong) Cawley, Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. Swimming’s legends are Dawn Fraser, Murray Rose and Shane Gould.

Cathy Freeman is these days Catherine Murch. She, and husband James, have just become the proud parents of baby daughter Ruby Anne Susie. Her passion is now channelled into the Catherine Freeman Foundation which works on closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians through education. The focus so far has been on Queensland’s Palm Island, the fourth-most disadvantaged community in Australia (according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures), where Freeman’s mother and grand-parents lived.

Sport Australia is an umbrella organisation for all Australian sports. Its 33 legends reflect this, representing 15 sports in all. Looking at the list, and the nominees and award winners on the night, it must be said that SA does an excellent job of acknowledging excellence and achievement across the board.

The main annual award is ‘The Don Award’ named after the first inductee into the Hall of Fame, Sir Donald Bradman. ‘The Don’ honours the current athlete who, by their achievements and example over the previous 12 months, has done most to inspire the nation.

Sally Pearson, the 100 metres hurdles world champion, US women’s open tennis champion Sam Stosur, and swimming’s sprint world champion James Magnussen would all have been worthy winners, but it was a bad year to be anyone other than Cadel Evans. The man who was responsible for more sleep deprivation than anyone else in Australian history was a runaway winner with his historic Tour de France victory.

Evans’ performance and Freeman’s in Sydney 2000 were also enshrined in the Hall of Fame as great sporting moments.

The seven inductees into the Hall of Fame included former Sun News Pictorial (and then Herald Sun) journalist Judy Joy Davies (the others were cricketers Glenn McGrath and Belinda Clark, triathlete Greg Welch, basketball player, coach and administrator Lorraine Landon, boxer Kosta Tszyu and surfer Layne Beachley).

A former Olympic and Empire Games swimmer, Judy Joy (as she was pretty well universally known) covered athletics, swimming and other ‘minor’ sports for 34 years.

I’m not aware - and I’m not going to risk spoiling things by asking – of Judy Joy ever covering Australian Rules football. In a lifetime reporting sport in football-mad Melbourne, that would be some kind of record.

If you’re a track and field fan, however, the more significant tenth anniversary comes this weekend. On Saturday, 25 September, it will be 10 years to the day since Cathy Freeman won the gold medal in the 400 metres, capping one of the most magnificent days in Olympic history.

Superlatives are overworked at Olympic Games time when, to paraphrase Roy and H.G., too many greatest moments are barely enough.

But Monday, 25 September, 2000 was one of the greatest days in the history of Olympic competition. Arguably, it could not have happened without Freeman’s gold medal, given its many overlays of symbolism, but it was a wonderful night by any definition.

Freeman first. Competitively, her win was very good, if not quite outstanding. Her greatest rival, Marie-Jose Perec of France, the defending champion from Atlanta 1996, was not there. Perec had arrived in Sydney in equivocal form and mysteriously fled the Olympic city well before the Games opened.

Ultimately, Freeman’s winning 49.11 seconds was almost a full half-second slower than she had run chasing Perec home four years earlier.

What made Cathy Freeman’s gold medal all the more wondrous was what lay behind it. She was the face of the Games, lighting the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony as the anchor of a relay celebrating Australia’s great female athletes. No less an Olympic hero than Herb Elliott brought to the torch to the stadium to be followed by Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland, Shane Gould, Debbie Flintoff-King _ and Cathy.

Then there was Freeman’s own background which, inevitably, saw her depicted as a role model for the indigenous community. Reconciliation between white and indigenous Australia was a hot issue in 2000.

And, no matter how much some of us argued otherwise, Freeman was constantly spoken off as Australia’s only medal hope in track and field. On top of that, 2000 brought the culmination of her personal and business split with her former partner.

So it was stress piled upon stress. At times, the two reinforced each other. When there was a dispute between SOCOG, the Games organising committee, and the IOC over the track and field timetable, the New South Wales Olympics minister, Michael Knight, claimed he had protected the Australian public’s right to come along on 25 September to see Cathy win her gold medal. No need for Perec to pile on the pressure then!

Nor, of course, did the ceremony pass without hitch. Freeman, who had just recovered from a cold, was drenched with water and, for a few terrifying moments, the hydraulic lift failed to function.

Freeman has often been asked about this. To my mind, she gave her best response a year ago when Ray Martin interviewed her at a function for her Catherine Freeman Foundation. Martin grilled her gently, but persistently, about her reaction to the stuff-up. You must have felt the pressure of this going wrong in front of 110,000 spectators and a huge international television audience, he insisted.

No, said Freman. “I told myself: I’ve come here to win a gold medal in the 400 metres, not to light the Olympic cauldron.”

SOCOG’s win on the timetable _ aimed at preserving “Cathy’s night” for people who had already bought tickets for day four of the athletics _ also indirectly led to Super Monday.

The IAAF had moved from an ‘8-day plus rest day’ to a 9-day timetable as early as the 1995 Gothenburg world championships. In the normal course of events, these changes were adopted at the Olympic Games at the end of the next cycle _ i.e. Sydney 2000.

SOCOG insisted they would not and, ultimately, prevailed. The 8-day timetable led to a natural build-up of finals on the even days, with the greatest number on day four and the final day.

So, Monday, 25 September boasted nine gold medal events. Each was an absolute cracker.

Michael Johnson cruised a 43.84 seconds 400, scarcely noticed in the immediate aftermath of Freeman’s run. Maria Mutola finally won her Olympic 800 gold, but only after an epic battle with Stephanie Graf and Kelly Holmes.

Paul Tergat stunned Haile Gebrselassie tactically by sitting until the last 200 metres of the 10,000 before unleashing his own finishing kick. Ultimately, Gebrselassie prevailed by inches in a race he regards as his finest ever. The winning margin was less than in the men’s 100 metres.

Gabriela Szabo just got the edge over Sonia O’Suillivan in an equally-absorbing women’s 5000 metres.

Then there was the women’s pole vault, Stacy Dragila winning in a world record from Tatiana Grigorieva, the discus with Virgilijus Alekna throwing almost 70 metres to win gold and Anier Garcia defeating the likes of Terrence Trammell, Allen Johnson and Colin Jackson in the men’s 110 metres hurdles final.

To finish the night, the three semi-finals of the men’s 800 metres were won by eventual gold medallist Nils Schumann (1:44.22), Djabir Said-Guerni (1:44.19) and Wilson Kipketer (1:44.22). The slowest man into the final was Hezekiel Sepeng, at 1:44.85. The Baci chocolates on the pillow at the end of a perfect night, I called them back then.

Back then, too, I mourned the loss of the old schedule. Now, it is impossible to get nights like 25 September, 2000, as the finals are more evenly distributed across the nine days. Fewer events per session means less chance of a sequence of highlights. Still, it works well enough when Usain Bolt runs 19.30 for 200 metres to break Micahel Johnson’s world record, or 9.58 for 100 as he did in Berlin last year. Or when Steve Hooker defies injury to claim a gold medal in the pole vault.

In any case, you can never add back the one essential ingredient that was present in Sydney 2000. It happened here, and an Australian champion provided the absolute highlight.

Those of us who were there were privileged to watch it. Most probably, it won’t happen again in our lifetimes.

(Pic: Perth1958)

By Len Johnson

For those of you who think thunderclap performances started with Usain Bolt, meet Herb Elliott.

Fifty years ago on Monday, Herbert James Elliott of Australia won the Rome Olympic 1500 metres in a world record three minutes 35.6 seconds. A paralysing burst along the back-straight with 700 metres to go left his rivals literally gasping for breath. His winning margin was a massive 2.8 seconds. The only greater margin in Olympic history was Kip Keino over Jim Ryun in 1968, in the special circumstances of Mexico City’s 2000 metres-plus altitude and with the pacing assistance of teammate, Ben Jipcho.

Winning an Olympic gold medal is a rare achievement, an Australian male winning one in an Olympic running event an even rarer one. An Australian male winning an Olympic running event in a world record was, and still is, almost unheard of.

In Australian Olympic terms then, Herb Elliott’s was the ultimate achievement. Ralph Doubell’s gold medal in the 800 metres in Mexico in equal-world record time comes close to matching it in athletic  terms; given the external pressures, Cathy Freeman’s gold medal in the Sydney 2000 Olympic 400 metres is also comparable.

In winning the men’s Olympic 1500 metres in world record time, Elliott matched the feat of New Zealand’s Jack Lovelock in 1936. [Two others _ Charles Bennett (GB/1900) and James Lightbody (USA/1904) _ did it back in the days when there were no official world records and the Olympics were nowhere near as competitive.]

So Elliott’s 3:35.6 was every bit as astounding in 1960 Rome as Usain Bolt’s 9.69 and 19.30 in Beijing two years ago. The similarities don’t end there: Elliott was 22 when he stunned the world; Bolt celebrated his 22^nd birthday in between his 100 and 200-metre triumphs in Beijing. Elliott didn’t just beat his opposition, he pulverised them. Bolt likewise enjoyed huge margins of victory.

Unlike the Jamaican sprint superstar, however, Herb Elliott had stamped his authority on his rivals two years before Rome. Co-incidentally, the 2008 Olympic Games opened two days after the 50^th anniversary of another famous Elliott run _ his 3:54.5 world record for the mile in Dublin on 6 August, 1958.

Elliott had a fabulous 1958, beginning with breaking four minutes for the mile for the first time just short of his 20^th birthday. He continued with an undefeated tour of the US west coast, an 880 yards-mile double at the British Empire Games in Cardiff, and world records at both the mile and the 1500 in Europe after the Games.

The mile world record was given almost as much publicity as Elliott’s Olympic victory would be two years later. I vividly recall reading a detailed account of his race splashed across the front page of Melbourne’s evening newspaper, The Herald, complete with a page-wide photo of the finish. Harry Gordon, now the official Australian Olympic historian, reported the race.

That performance took 3.5 seconds off the official world record (still held by John Landy) and 2.7 off the mark set by Britain’s Derek Ibbotson. Second-placed Merv Lincoln ran 3:55.9, about as close as anyone got to Elliott in a big race.

In the 1500, Elliott ran 3:36.0 to beat the previous world record holder, Stanislaw Jungwirth, by three seconds and his record by 2.1.

Elliott retired soon after Rome and has the unique distinction of being undefeated at a mile or 1500 metres as a senior (his one loss ever at either distance, came in a handicap race at school).

Australians, it often seems, prefer ‘larrikin’ heroes _ or perhaps it’s just that most of our heroes either fit that description, or are downright flawed. Think of Dawn Fraser, John Newcombe and Shane Warne, for example. Perfection seems a little anodyne to the average Aussie sports fan.

With his unblemished record, Elliott could have been seen this way. Yet other elements of his character fit snugly with the national psyche. He trained over the dunes at Portsea, linking him with the beach, a quintessential part of the Australian character. This image wasn’t harmed by the true story of him once rescuing his coach, Percy Cerutty, from the raging surf.

Though Cerutty espoused a Stotan _ part Stoic, part Spartan _ creed, and advanced what were then radical dietary notions, Elliott was not beyond the occasional cigarette and drink, another example of the common touch.

One such indulgence came when Elliott and his great rival Merv Lincoln were on the way to Brisbane for a race. Elliott was relaxed, downing a beer and even smoking a couple of cigarettes on the flight. “I’ve got the blighter this time,” Lincoln thought as he led in the final lap off a solid pace, but Elliott burst past to win easily, 3:58.9 to 4:04.8.

Lincoln was devastated. He thought at that stage he was fitter and definitely better prepared, but still he was beaten, and decisively. “I think I lost a bit of fight after that one,” he said years later.

 Elliott’s early retirement, almost universally regarded as premature, sparked great debate as to whether the world saw his best. Some had no doubt _ “he obviously never reached his potential” _ wrote Cordner Nelson and Roberto Quercetani in their middle-distance history, The Milers. Others speculate on how Elliott would have gone against successors Peter Snell, the 1964 Olympic champion, Ryun and Keino.

Elliott has never been swayed. His approach was intense, and the intensity only lasted so long. “The balance changed,” he told me in an interview late in the 1980s. “I can’t redress that. There were other things to do. Running was just a short, deep experience in my life.”

I suppose the one unknown is what might have happened had Elliott not won in 1960. Would he then have continued, which was the response of Roger Bannister, John Landy and Wes Santee to their disappointments at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

Article by Chris Wainwright

When Melinda Gainsford-Taylor announced her retirement at the end of 2001 we all thought that she had left women's sprinting in Australia in good hands. After such a successful career, where she set Australian records in both the 100m (11.12s) and 200m (22.23s), we have been waiting for the next sprint sensation to step onto the track. Eight years later have we really found our next sprint champion?

We take a look at some of those Australian athletes that have looked the most likely at reaching the standards set by the likes of Cathy Freeman and Gainsford-Taylor.

#1 Sally McLellan (100m) - Showed the talent that would eventually see her win an Olympic silver medal in the 100m hurdles at the Beijing Olympics, with a blistering 11.57s 100m as a 16 year-old in 2003. She then went onto run 11.40s a year later to win bronze in the 100m at the World Juniors, to be the only Australian athlete (male or female) to medal at a World Junior Championships in the 100m. In 2006 McLellan made the final in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, while in 2007 she amazed us all with a 11.14s performance in her heat of the 100m at the World Championships (a time that now has her ranked at no.2 on the Australian all-time ranking list).

In 2008 McLellan decided to concentrate on the 100m hurdles, being an Olympic year, and came away with an Olympic silver medal in her main event. This year we have seen McLellan record a season's best of 11.26s in the 100m, while also recording a very quick 200m in a wind-assisted time of 22.66s (recorded in Canberra). There has been consistent talk of a new Australian 100m record from McLellan in 2009, although she will again be concentrating on the 100m hurdles at the World Championships in Berlin.

So where does McLellan rate in the history of Australian female sprinters? Well her 11.14s performance in Osaka was outstanding, and there is no doubt that she has the ability to be the first Australian female to break 11 seconds for the 100m. If she ever concentrated purely on the 100m/200m double then we could definately see her edge past Gainsford-Taylor as Australia's best ever modern day sprinter by the end of her career.

#2 Melissa Breen (100m/200m) - As a junior Breen now ranks as the no.2 Australian female 100m runner of all-time (behind Raelene Boyle's Australian junior record of 11.20s at altitude, which was set in 1968 when she placed 4th at the Olympic Games in Mexico). Her time of 11.33s (+1.9) was set in Canberra (8 November, 2008) and came in a year where she was a semi finalist at the World Junior Championships. Breen also broke 11.50s four times in 2008, which raised everybody's expectations of how far the 18 year-old could go in 2009.

Although 2009 hasn't seen any improvements on the already impressive personal best of 11.33s in the 100m for Breen, the highlight was definatley the fact that she was named on the Australian team for the World Championships in August. With Breen not turning 19 until September, this is an excellent achievement. She will also represent Australia at the World University Games in July, which is a nice lead in event to the World Championships in August.

At 18 years-old there is a sense of excitement surrounding this talented sprinter from Canberra. Could we see Breen beat McLellan to being the first Australian female sprinter to break the magical 11 second barrier? Well the main thing is that McLellan has some real pressure placed on her to remain as Australia's no.1 female sprinter. Competition will always bring out the best, as seen this year in Australian men's distance running.

#3 Well this is where it becomes difficult. Although there is genuine excitement surrounding both Breen and McLellan, which athletes would be next in line to take over as the no.1 female sprinter in Australia? Well at the moment it looks as though it would be a battle between 22 year-old South Australian, Alicia Wrench-Doody and 24 year-old Western Australian Jody Henry. The only problem is that both athletes don't have times that would be classed as competitive internationally (in both the 100m or 200m), so you would have to say our depth in women's sprinting in Australia is limited. In fact we have yet to see an Australian female sprinter break 23 seconds (non wind-assisted) in the 200m since Lauren Hewitt ran 22.87s in 2004, and apart from Breen, McLellan and Crystal Attenborough (11.43s in 2007) we haven't seen an Australian female sprinter break 11.50s in the 100m.

So do we just hope that McLellan and Breen will fill the void left by the likes of Gainsford-Taylor, Hewitt and Freeman? Well it's nice to know that both athletes look set to have bright futures in both the 100m and 200m, but are there other female sprinters around Australia that could also one day compete at a major championship (i.e Olympic Games or World Championships)? Well we take a look at some of Australia's most promising and exciting junior talent.

#1 Olivia Tauro - there have been whispers around that Tauro had retired from track and field but these seem unsubstantiated. Ran a very fast 23.90s 200m as a 15 year-old, and was 8th in the final at the 2005 World Youth Championships. Also made the semi-finals at the 2008 World Juniors (in the 200m). Has personal bests of 11.68 (100m), 23.62s (200m) and 53.26s (400m). Could become a specialist 400m runner in the future, but we shouldn't dismiss her qualities as a "pure" sprinter.We will hopefully see her back on the track in the near future.

#2 Lauren O'Sullivan - as with Tauro, we haven't seen O'Sullivan on the track in 2009. Is still only 17 years-old, and has already posted personal bests of 11.67s (100m) and 23.54s (200m), which were both recorded in 2007 when O'Sullivan was only 15. In 2008 she was a multiple medal winner at the Commonwealth Youth Games (winning bronze medals in both the 100m and 200m) and also placed second at the Pacific Schools Championships in the 100m (11.90s w-a). Would have certainly been named on the Australian team for the World Youth Championships if she was fully fit. A return to her amazing form in 2007 would see O'Sullivan push both Henry and Wrench-Doody in both the 100m and 200m.

#3 Ella Nelson - well we probably won't see the best of this amazingly talented 15 year-old until 2011 and beyond, as she has just finished her Little Athletics career, but if her results are anything to go by then we are in for an exciting ride. Nelson has already run a blistering wind-assisted 23.89s in the 200m and a 12.01s wind-assisted 100m, and even without the wind she has personal bests of 12.21s (100m) and 24.09s (200m). Has broken NSW LA records previously held by Olivia Tauro, an achievement that can not go unnoticed. Watch out for this extremely talented sprinter in 2011, where she will certainly be in line to represent Australia at the World Youth Championships.(you can view our recently conducted interview with Ella Nelson by clicking here)

So do we have something to look forward to in terms of women's sprinting in Australia? Well if our junior athletes can remain on the track for the long term then we may see another Gainsford-Taylor or Freeman running around in the 100m or 200m. However it is interesting to note that only 35.8% of Australian female athletes that have competed at the World Youth Championships (since the Championships commenced in 1999) are still competing in track and field in 2009. Therefore if we can keep our talented junior athletes competing in the tough sport of track and field then the future looks bright.

Comments

Ben says...

"Well written. The thing about Jody Henry is that she has only ever run about two 400m races and has done no specific 400m training. She has the potential to improve out of sight. "

June 13, 2009

Sarah Jamieson is arguably Australia's best ever female 1500m runner. Sarah is the current Australian record holder over 1500m (4:00.93) and ended 2007 ranked 7th in the world. Sarah's story is one of resilience, toughness and hard work: After much success as a junior she was injured between 1994 and 1998 and had a total of five surgeries on her legs. Sarah then had a few successful years before again succumbing to injuries in 2001 and 2003 which both required surgery. Sarah bounced back in 2004 winning her second Australian title and qualified for the Athens Olympics. 2006 saw Sarah get a silver medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, win yet another Australian title, place third at the world cup and culminated in her breaking the decade old Australian 1500m record. 2007 was another strong year in which she broke the Australian national indoor 1500m record and placed 3rd at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart. With the Beijing Olympics fast approaching we caught up with the latest from Sarah.

RunnersTribe: Sarah, thanks for agreeing to this interview. First off, what were your movements this past Australian season, were you injured?

SJ: I was recovering from hamstring tendonitis. It had hung around since the Aussie domestic season in '07. It got to the point, towards the end of the European season, where I couldn't train at 100%. It required some kind of intervention. I took October, November and December of '07 off training and had blood injections into my hamstring and an epidural. I was in no shape to run the Aussie season.

RT: You have spent a significant proportion of you career on the sidelines due to injury, and have had a crazy number of surgeries. If you had your time over, what would you do differently?

SJ: Not a lot to tell the truth! I don't know what I could have done differently. None of the injuries/surgeries were a result of overtraining or stupidity. I got some bad medical advice in Perth and probably had 3 unnecessary surgeries (compartment release). I saw the best sports medicine Doctors in Perth and had full faith that they knew what they were doing. I eventually flew to Melbourne and saw Dr Chris Bradshaw who was able to properly diagnose the issue, a trapped nerve. Maybe I should have sought Bradshaw out earlier but I was a struggling athlete in Perth. A trip to Melbourne and medical bills was a big deal. I decided pretty soon after my nerve release to have no bitterness about my situation. I was given the chance to run again and see what I could achieve.

RT: I take it you have developed various arrays of methods to help you stay injury free?

SJ: I am the queen of prevention!! I ice bath after my sessions, have 2 massages a week, see a physio once a week, do specific hamstring, glute and calf (my weak spots) strengthening 3 times a week and stretch until the cows come home. If you are going to be a world class athlete, you need to train hard, day in, day out. To do this, you have to treat your body like a temple and do everything in your power to have it in the best possible condition every day. Prevention methods are boring and a chore but a necessity if you are going to make it.

RT: How is the training coming along at the moment? Are you on track for your goal of proving to the selectors that you are ready for Beijing? What races to do have lined up over the next few months?

SJ: Everything is going great for me now. I have gotten myself into good shape in a pretty short space of time. I am cranking out solid tempo runs while at the same time, really tapping into my speed. I have had a couple of time trials now that indicate I am in shape to run well. I will race 3 times prior to the final team selections to show I am in good form. They will be Doha Grand Prix,1500 (May 9), Reebok Grand Prix, 1500 (May 31), then the Prefontaine Classic, 1500 (June 8).

RT: You are originally from Perth. How important was your move to Melbourne all those years ago? Do you feel you could have achieved the same things if you had remained based in Perth and simply traveled to races?

SJ: My move to Melbourne was seriously the key to my success. There wasn't a real distance running vibe around Perth back in the late 90's. Melbourne had a real distance running culture. Myself, my now husband, Jai Thomas (800 PB 1.47.8) and Mark Gorski (1500 PB 3.39.07) really wanted a shot at making the 2000 Olympic team. We just packed up the car and drove across the Nullabor Plain to Melbourne. It was really the beginning for me. I was fortunate enough to realize my dream of making the 2000 Olympic team. Jai and Mark sadly missed out! I don't believe I would have achieved the same things if I had stayed in Perth. The travel to and from interstate races did bother me but the things that helped me the most was having regular strong competition in Melbourne and having a strong group of athletes to train with who had similar Olympic aspirations. I knew from the moment I arrived in Melbourne what I needed to do to be a world class athlete as I was in the same training group as Catherine Freeman. I just put my head down and trained way harder than I ever had before.

RT: You changed coaches last year and now live part of the year in America! Why the change and how is the new set-up going? I presume you are coached via correspondence while you are in Australia?

SJ: I did. It was a decision that I didn't take lightly as the Beijing Olympics were less than a year away. I was unhappy in my current situation and knew that if I was going to train and race well I needed to find happiness. I researched a few coaches and liked the way Ray Treacy operated. He is a college coach at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. He has a multi- cultural group of pro athletes who went through Providence College and have remained coached by him.

Kim Smith (New Zealand) 5km & 10km (PB's 14.49 & 31.20)
Roisin McGettigan (Ireland) Steeple (PB 9.28)
Amy Rudolph (USA) 5km & 10km (PB's 14.56 & 31.18)
Mary Cullen (Ireland) 5km (PB 15.19)
Molly Huddle (USA) 5km (PB 15.17)
Amy Moritmer (USA) 1500m (PB 4.06)

I am really enjoying it. The group is very supportive and I recently spent 5 weeks training in the States with them. I am coached by correspondence and remain in constant contact with Ray. I think being an older, experienced athlete allows this situation to work. I have a full-time training partner here in Melbourne in Brenton Rowe (1500 PB - 3.51). It would be tough without someone to train with. He does every run and session with me and travels with me to the States and Europe. He knows me well and between the 2 of us, we get the job done. We are about to head to the States to do a month's training then onto our European base, Cologne, Germany.

RT: Can you talk me through a typical week of training during your winter base building period?

SJ: I work off a 10 day cycle. Within the 10 days I do 3 sessions, a medium run, a long run and 3 weights sessions. I would clock between 120-130km per week.

A typical base week could look like the following:

Day 1 - 2 x 5km & run
Day 2 - 2 runs & weights
Day 3 - 80 minute run
Day 4 - 2 runs
Day 5 - 10 x 400 & run
Day 6 - 2 runs & weights
Day 7 - 70 minute run
Day 8 - 1 easy run & weights
Day 9 - 6 x 4 minute reps & run
Day 10 - 2 runs

RT: Do you do incorporate any weight sessions?

SJ: Yes, I think this is a very underrated aspect of middle distance running. I lift 3 times in my 10 day training cycle with a concentration on my core, upper body and areas I need to rehab.

RT: How long are your Sunday long runs?

SJ: 80-85 minutes

RT: Do you have any track sessions which stand out as being your favorite or most worthwhile?

SJ: Not really. I love training on the track. Maybe 10 x 300 or ladders such as 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400

RT: Speed is vital if you are to get through the early rounds in Beijing, given the fact that the heats are often very slow for the first two or so laps, followed by a fierce kick down. What sort of things are you doing to develop and maintain this speed?

SJ: I'm not blessed with speed. I'd have to say that my strength is my strength. It is something that we are addressing in training. My hamstring issues last season meant speed work had to be avoided. This showed in my semi final at Worlds where it was a walk for 900 metres and became a 600 metre race. I was totally exposed. Now my hamstring is strong again, I have been able to pump out faster 200's and 300 reps on the track. I have started doing strides after my runs on non session days as well as drills for form.

RT: A lot of runners have trouble with tapering and subsequently end up flat on race day! Can you talk us through your training for the week leading up to a big race.

SJ: I would do my last session 4 days before race day. It wouldn't be a session where I bury myself or bring on much lactic. I would do a second run also. 3 days before I would do 2 runs. 2 days before I would do 1 run and some strides. The day before I would do just the 1 run. I head out the morning of a race and run easy for 15-20 minutes.

RT: You are sponsored by Reebok! How important has their roll been in allowing you to be a full time athlete?

SJ: Massive. Their support has meant that I don't have to squeeze work into my day. It enables me to do the things required to be the best I can be such ice post sessions, stretch, fit in my physio and massage sessions and sleep during the day. I love it!

RT: Sarah, thanks for the interview, all the best your Olympic build-up and the Olympics themselves. We hope to see you line up in that final and smash under that 4 minute mark.

'The greatest stimulator of my running career was fear'
Herb Elliott