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The act of doing something well often belies the difficulty of doing it at all.

So it was for a Steve Hooker pole vault for the magic years from 2006 to 2010. As he won the Commonwealth Games, the World Cup, the Olympic Games, the world championships and the world indoor championships, he built up an air of invincibility.

Why, it was all so easy he could do it off one leg, as Hooker memorably did in winning the Berlin 2009 world championships despite a strained quadriceps muscle restricting him to just three jumps – one in qualifying, two in the final.

That apparent ease masked the reality that vaulting is difficult – and dangerous. So difficult, in Hooker’s case, that he went for a year virtually unable to jump a bar early in his career. Those demons have returned to haunt him now, at pretty much the worst possible time in his Olympic preparation. 

“The confidence I require to stand at the end of the runway and then charge down, land my pole and soar almost six metres into the air has left me for the time being,” Hooker said this week.

The good news is that Hooker got through ‘the yips’ one time and he can get through them again. Despite an ordinary year last year, he has the Olympic B-standard so, other than the unlikely event of someone else getting the B (or, even less likely) the A-standard, he can be picked for London provided he is on the right track.

It hasn’t been a good few months at the sharp end of Australian athletics. Sally Pearson remains a shining light – though even she had an injury scare in a ‘pro’ race on a grass track just before Christmas.

Jared Tallent is going alright, too, but almost everyone else who has shown out in recent years has a query against them right at the minute.

Mitch Watt hasn’t been jumping due to a calf injury. (A report this week said that he and his support team were “on top of his calf”, which must make it even more uncomfortable.)

Our other top jumper, world indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre, has been struggling too, though he will resume competition in Perth this weekend. Last time he competed there, Lapierre cleared a wind-aided 8.78 metres. Let’s hope it is an omen.

Dani Samuels, 2009 world champion in the discus, has not shown anything like that form since, our 400 men are struggling to get anywhere near individual qualifying times (when they won a bronze medal in the Berlin 4x400, three of them were individual semi-finalists).

Javelinists Kim Mickle and Jarrod Bannister are off the scene, the former injured, the latter suspended for part of the season.

Then dual 400 hurdles world champion Jana Pittman has had an injection for plantar fasciitis, a potentially debilitating foot injury which, like Hooker’s problems, could hardly have come with worse timing.

Finally, there has been the storm that has erupted over the marathon qualifying standards – or, rather, Athletics Australia’s adjustment of the IAAF standard, the only event for which it has done so – which is likely to see anything up to half-a-dozen IAAF A-qualified athletes told that no, in fact they have not qualified.

With all the bullets flying around this week, the last thing you need is to come under ‘friendly fire’.

Back in the lead-up to Sydney 2000, team manager Peter Brukner and head coach Chris Wardlaw had regular media briefings at which, among other things, they ran through the injury list. Many wondered if it was worth it, as the downside was an inevitable negative story on injuries.

Better, the counterview then was, not to have the briefings unless you had something positive to say. And that has been the approach since. It works a treat, too, until you get swept away by an avalanche of bad news, as happened this week.

No doubt everyone is fervently hoping Perth marks the reversal of this trend.

For David Rudisha, 2010 started with a personal best 400 metres at the Peter Norman Classic at Melbourne’s Aberfeldie athletics track.

And it just kept getting better – another 400 ‘pb’ at the Sydney Track Classic, a 1:43.15 800 opener at the Melbourne Track Classic, the African championship at home in Nairobi, two world records a week apart in Berlin and Rieti. Finally, another 1:43, this time 1:43.37. to close his season with a win in the IAAF Continental Cup in Split.

Not surprisingly, Rudisha is pretty well a unanimous pick for male athlete of the year. He started 2010 with the albatross of failure to make the final at the 2009 world championships in Berlin hanging round his neck, but by year’s end he was world record holder and beautifully placed to challenge for the 2011 world and 2012 Olympic gold medals.

Such was Rudisha’s air of invincibility by the end of 2010 that it is easy to forget that Berlin failure or that Abubaker Kaki ran him to 0.19 seconds in Oslo and 0.34 later in the season in Brussels.

Rudisha turned 22 on Friday (17 December), Kaki is just on six months younger than him. Clearly Rudisha has room for improvement, as does Kaki, who failed to make the Beijing Olympic and Berlin world finals and did not run the African championship.

Both these young men have the motivation of showing they are not merely fast runners, but also champions. The prospective clashes between them in Daegu and London are mouth-watering.

Blanka Vlasic was almost as good in 2010 as Rudisha. If the Kenya 800 metre runner ended his season in Split with as much relief as elation, for Vlasic it was almost the exact opposite. Competing in her hometown, she cleared an equal world lead 2.05 metres to win and had her first attempts of the season on a world record 2.10.

“I could retire tomorrow and I would have no regrets,” she said.

Not surprisingly, Vlasic is almost as sure a bet as female athlete of the year as Rudisha for male.

Otherwise, 2010 was a quiet year, the sort of year we used to have when there was no major global championship scheduled. Even the second-tier championships were down on their usual levels.

 Delhi 2010 was always going to have a hard time following Melbourne 2006 in the Commonwealth Games cycle, but concerns – largely unjustified – about health and security, combined with October scheduling, kept many stars away.

Jamaica, in particular, paid the Games almost no regard, though even without Bolt and Powell, it still managed to produce the men’s 100 champion in Lerone Clarke.

Kenya has not had a Commonwealth Games sprint champion since Seraphino Antao in Perth in 1962, so the absence of the Jamaican sprint stars did not help its cause. But it nonetheless finished atop the medal table for the first time at a Commonwealth Games.

Kenya, in fact, had a hell of a year. Not only did it produce the male athlete of 2010, but Kenya also dominated the world cross-country championships (taking all four individual and team titles) and the African championships (in Nairobi), as well as the Commonwealth Games.

Though some Kenyan stars – Rudisha amongst them – did not go to Delhi, their replacements were more than adequate. Boaz Lalang, the second fastest in the world, was a more than able deputy for Rudisha. Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop did not run the 1500, but fastest man in the world for 2010, Silas Kiplagat, won in his absence.

Melbourne started the year with one Kenyan star and ended it with the visit of another. Josphat Menjo, the fastest man in the world at 10,000, won the 50^th men’s Zatopek with a commanding display.

Menjo came to the world’s attention with a series of solo runs in Finland in August, a sub-13 minute 5000, a 3:53 mile and a 26:56 10,000.

No disrespect to Menjo, but the Kenyan I would have liked to have seen at 10,000 was Wilson Kiprop, who won the Kenyan title in 27:26 and then the African title in 27:32, both races at high altitude in Nairobi. Next year, maybe?

At marathon, 2010 produced an epic finish in Chicago as Sammy Wanjiru outran Tsegay Kebede, despite looking beaten several times in the closing stages.

Another 2010 highlight was the return to form of former 110 metres hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang. The Chinese star limped out of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, had surgery on his damaged achilles tendon and appeared to be struggling when he had to re-visit the surgeon in the middle of this year.

Liu hit back with a spectacular win at the Asian Games in 13.09, taking him from nowhere to third-fastest performer of 2010.

In looking for Australian stars of the year, it is hard to go past Steve Hooker and Fabrice Lapierre among the men.

Hooker had a pretty patchy mid-year, but he started with 5.91 in Sydney in February, cleared 6.01 to win the world indoor title in March and 5.95 to win the Continental Cup.

Lapierre won the world indoor title, produced an 8.30 to take the gold medal in Delhi and had a windy 8.78 metres to win the national title in Perth. Only five men have jumped further than that in any conditions.

On the women’s side, despite the Commonwealth 100 metres title eluding her, it was Sally Pearson, who returned to her best form in the hurdles, winning at both the Continental Cup and in Delhi.

Luckily, we didn’t turn off the bulldust detector after our last column, because there is still plenty of bull floating around Delhi 2010.

Including in our own direction: twice we called the Organising Committee chairman Ramesh Kalmadi, when it is, as we wrote on the third occasion, Suresh Kalmadi. At least we got it on the third attempt and can move to the next height.

Among other things that set the detector ticking were remarks by UK head coach Charles van Commenee and the attitude of many of those who chose to be ‘no shows’ in Delhi.

Van Commenee plainly disrespects the competitiveness of the Commonwealth Games. Comparing Delhi with the European championships in Barcelona – where Great Britain took 19 medals, six of them gold – van Commenee told the BBC website: “For us it's the dessert after dinner.”

This remark can mean different things to different people. Distance runners, for example, probably rate carbo-rich desserts above dinner. We’re pretty sure van Commenee is not of that mind, however.

The ‘no shows’ ranged from the ‘never likely to go’, such as Usain Bolt, to the nervous pull-outs such as Phillips Idowu and Dani Samuels.

Some of their reasons were understandable. For those like Idowu and Samuels, I have some sympathy even if their fears proved to be misplaced. Most of us went to Delhi with a little apprehension, if we’re honest.

If we’re honest, however, we should also admit security is a concern everywhere. Preparation for all mainstream Australian journalists for the2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games included basic survival techniques, terrorism awareness and emergency first-aid. We were also required to have inoculations against various diseases in 2008.

Other athletes did not got to Delhi because they did not want to extend already long seasons. David Rudisha started out with a 1:43 in Melbourne early in March, ran the first Diamond League in Doha and the last in Brussels, his national championships and the African championships in Nairobi, set two world records in eight days and won the IAAF Continental Cup.

Mo Farah, too, started with the World Cross-Country and went right through to a distance double at the European champions in hot Barcelona. Jessica Ennis, world indoor champion at the pentathlon and European outdoor champion in the heptathlon, has had a career-long battle with injury and faced little competition in Delhi (though that could equally be a justification for competing).

It’s just that some of these people felt compelled to give reasons which did not bear much examination.

Though acknowledging the Games were “a great opportunity to develop” for some athletes, van Commenee added:  “I have never made it a big objective for the year, I never mentioned it. I never encouraged athletes to take part, never discouraged them either. I've taken a very neutral stance.”

A neutral stance: what the hell is that! Firstly, can you imagine him saying that about the European championships if Idowu, Farah, Lisa Dobriskey, Christine Ohuruogu or Ennis had wanted to skip them in favour of Delhi. I can’t.

Van Commenee’s remarks reflect a Euro-centric view in which the European championships are always seen as superior to the Commonwealth Games, a view which has become increasingly harder to sustain, particularly in track events.

All other things equal, would Mo Farah have been better off racing Moses Kipsiro, Eliud Kipchoge and Daniel Salel in Delhi or against European opposition in Barcelona. Would an 800 metres runner get more benefit from racing Boaz Lalang, Richard Kiplagat and Abraham Kiplagat at the Commonwealths or Marcin Lewandowski, Michael Rimmer and Adam Kszczot at the Europeans.

Although van Commenee had no official role in Delhi – the home countries making up the UK compete as separately – he is the head coach of UK athletics. And if the boss is neutral on something, it’s a fair bet that will influence those of whom he is in charge.

As for those who stayed away citing health, safety and security concerns, security is certain to be just as big an issue (and risk) at London 2012. London has had major security issues for over 40 years, yet few are talking about skipping 2012 on these grounds.

The last bit of bull is the proposed Krishna Poonia-Dani Samuels head-to-head. Good luck to them, I say, especially if it can pull a crowd to an athletics event.

But this one sounds more like bulk bluster than block-buster. Poonia’s record over the three years leading up to her gold medal in Delhi reads: 2007 world championships – dnq; 2008 Olympic Games – dnq; 2009 world championships – dnq.

Surely Samuels has bigger fish to fry? It seems a mismatch along the lines of any fight involving Tony Mundine; and, if it’s going to be based around Poonia’s alleged ‘disrespect’ of Samuels’ reasons for not going to Delhi, about as edifying as well. 

I had mixed emotions leaving the tarmac for India at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney. On the one hand I was really excited at the prospect of watching Ben St Lawrence from our squad race in the 5000m. On the other hand I was very disappointed at a genuine medal chance, Lara Tamsett, being left back in Sydney to train in Centennial Park.

 

The powerbrokers from AA had simply got the qualifying times for the Commonwealth Games wrong. The women's A standard for 5000m of 15.20 was way faster than the eventual winning time of over 15.50. A similar story in the 10000m with the Aussie A standard being 32.10 and the race being won in over 32.30- with only two runners sub 33.00. There were less than 10 girls in each of the races. In fact, only three girls in the entire Commonwealth who were entered in the 10000m had run the Aussie A standard within the qualifying period. Tamsett is a rare athlete who actually runs just as fast in heat and humidity. I also thought about the contingent of other strong Aussie females who would be watching the games back home. Nikki Chapple, Cassie Fien, Becky Lowe, Mel Vernon and Jess Trengrove, among others, are all up-and comers like Tamsett who have raced well in the last 12 months and any one of them could have proudly worn the green and gold alongside Eloise Wellings in the track events.

 

The distance races on the track were held in the early evening, a time in Delhi when it hasn't started to cool down much at all and temperatures still hover around the 30 degree mark. It actually cooled down to around 21 degrees but that didn't happen until around 6.00am each day (a very nice time to run had I bought my running gear!).

 

I had thought about whether it was possible for anyone to defeat the no.1 (Kipchoge) and no.3 (Kiptoo) runners on the planet over 5000m in 2010 in Delhi  in the men's edition of the race. It would take an awesome performance to beat the might of the Kenyans. Anyone who could handle the heat and humidity and who could run 13.30 pace in those tough conditions would have some kind of shot. If they could run a 4.00 final mile or a 53 second 400m off a slowish pace they could be in the medal mix. Could Ben do it? HIs City to Surf win, coupled with a fine 7.42 for 3000m weeks before Delhi, meant he had excellent endurance and speed and his great kick has never gone missing in action. But would "excellent" be good enough?

 

Delhi was very much like Mumbai and Pune had been when I was in India for the Commonwealth Youth Games two years ago. Hot, humid, incredibly crowded and dusty. I wasn't in the official Australian team but was lucky enough to be staying in quite a nice hotel in the market precinct of Karol Bagh, about 5km from the Delhi CBD. I hadn't packed my running gear due to government security warnings about terroists, etc. The media scare campaign in the final month leading up to the games would have been enough to put Rambo off packing his running gear. I knew I wouldn't be staying within the safety zone of the athlete's village and would have to fend for myself. Wandering the streets for my first meal in Delhi I realised that I probably should have taken my running gear. There was at least one soldier or policeman at grounmd level every hudered metres or so and they were often several stories up in surrounding buildings, overpasses and in trees. This was quite a way out of the main tourist hub in the city and also from the Games venues! If you were a terroist wanting to cause some damage you would have had Buckleys. Having said that,  I did jump high enough to win gold in the high jump when I heard a sharp bang whilst walking along a laneway one evening (well high enough to possibly win an u/9 Little As event anyway). When turning around a second later to check what it was, around 6 little Indian boys were laughing loudly- they had just let off a fire cracker.

 

I was lucky enough to get accreditation for access into the athlete's village and anywhere in the stadium/warm-up area for athletics. This place had to be more secure than Alcatraz. 3 security gate checks, all with full body searches, 7 metre high concrete walls with barbed wire on the top for the entire perimeter, plus soldiers on every corner. On visiting Ben in the village everything appeared to be in decent shape and working order. The Aussie runners were very relaxed and there was a harmonious vibe amongst them. They all came from different stables and most had different distances to cover but knew they were on a common mission- to race their best for Australia.

 

I still had to catch the Delhi Metro, riding on three trains, from the village to the stadium for the 5000m race. Being cramped like sardines in a little tin on the train closest to the CBD, one gentleman who was standing very close to me asked me,"what are you doing in Delhi?". I told him I was watching a guy I coach race in the 5000m in a few hours and he said he had no idea what 5000m involved. I explained that it was running 12 and half laps around the track. He said it sounded boring and too simple. I asked him if he liked cricket and he said he loved it. I said imagine Sachin Tendulkar running up and down the pitch around 200 times in 13 minutes- that's how fit and fast these guys are. He responded, " why would Sachin want to do that?"

 

It was hot and steamy on the warm up track an hour before the race as Collis, Ben, Dave and Adrian Blinco from NZ lazed around on the high jump mat. It was time to warm up around the time 15 or so Africans started running around the track in a pack- all in full track suits- something they always seem to do. The Aussies warmed up soon after then prceeded to put on their ice vests to try and cool down whilst they did their final stretches before going to the call room.

 

You would have all seen the race and know how it went. Fast lap (62), slow lap (70) and so it continued until 1200m to go when the Africans slotted into 60 sec pace. A sub 4 minute final mile including a 52 second last lap was just what it took for 24 year old Moses Kipsiro to knock off the powerhouses from Kenya and win gold. Bearing in mind that he also won the 10000m in an equally impressive performance, Kipsiro is one who will be hard to beat in major championships over the next few years. Collis, Ben and Dave were with the leaders until around 3 laps to go, with Collis being there right up until one lap to go- a very brave run. At the point when the push for home happened Adrian Blinco pretty much hit the wall. Ben and Dave were sitting on him at that point. By the time they realised what had happened it was game over- the lead pack established a 40 metre break and their tyre was punctured. They both fought on gamely and did well to come 7th and 8th, with Collis' gutsy effort earning him 6th in a field of 22. You had to be way better than "excellent" to win this race.

 

5 days later, the 10000m was a more even paced affair, although some surges including 64 second laps were still included in the first 5000m, covered in 14.03. This time Ben held on for longer than Collis and fought hard for another 7th place finish, doing well to outkick Chris Thompson, a 27.29 man from England, on the last lap.

 

Bearing in mind that the last time a Commonwealth Games was held in similar conditions- ie stinking hot; was in 1998 in KL. Mona came 3rd in the 10000m in a time over 29.00 and he didn't have to back up from a tough 5000m days earlier. Ben's double 7th place runs were something I reckon he should be very proud of. 28.49 is great work in shocking conditions. It was nothing the big newspapers, radio or TV stations would harp on about. The big stories were on the Sally 100m disqualificationand 400m relay leg agony dramas, plus of course her awesome win in the 100 hurdles. They were also on the copius amount of medals that our swimmers and cyclists won. Did I forget to mention the pages of articles written on Geoff Huegill losing his 40kg? A great job in anyone's books, although probably only as equally impressive as Ben St Lawrence's weight loss and subsequent ascendency to world class runner. A 25kg loss for a 85kg man is on a par with a 40kg loss for a 125kg man. Yes, I know where Ben has come from and where he has now reached and I for one am very impressed.

WOW!!! That was by far the toughest race I have ever had to run. There was no way back after my legs had decided they'd had enough. I do not have an answer for what happened. All I know is that my race was done by around 19km. No matter how much I tried, I could not hold my position and continued to drift back through the field to finish 13th in 2:25:03.

First off, let me congratulate Michael Shelley on an absolutely fantastic result. A silver medal at his first Commonwealths is awesome and I am so happy for him. As I have said in a few interviews previously, the marathon is an event where the form book goes out the window. It's rare that the favourite wins, and the race on Thursday was no exception. Michael ran terrific, came through the field over the closing stages and I'm sure he will walk away from the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games a very happy man. I also offer my congratulations to Lisa Weightman on her Bronze medal in the womens race. Marty Dent ran on in the second half well to place 6^th.

On to my recap....

I felt great for the race. Those of you who watched it may have noticed that I was near the front through about 10km. It felt so very comfortable, even though we had picked it up from a pedestrian 17min first 5km split to a respectable 15:40-odd second 5km split. When we hit the 10km drink station, the lead group surged the same as they had at the 5km drink station. I ignored the surge again and maintained my 3:10-3:15/km pace, assuring myself I would again catch up to them like I did the first time. Well, I hit 15km, I still hadn't caught them, and was now down by about 30 seconds. I'd ran that 5km stretch in 15:50, so I hadn't really slowed down, they just sped up. I was still feeling great, even though I was on my own.

18km is where it began to get interesting. I felt a stitch coming on but managed to fight it off quickly with some deep breaths, however I didn't realize that my race was coming to an end over the next 2km. I thought maybe I just got lazy and dropped pace so I tried to pick it back up. Strangely, my legs felt pretty heavy. In the 19th kilometre, Michael Shelley caught me and then dropped me pretty quickly. I could do nothing about it. Having problems like that so early in the race was very strange, and unexpected. It's not like I was running world record pace and blew up, I was only on 2:14/2:15 pace. Every kilometre from then on got harder and harder and harder and harder. By the time I had reached 25km, several people had passed me, and I was just trying to nurse my body to the finish line. The 5km splits I picked up on my watch were: 17:05, 15:44, 15:53, 16:19, 16:57, 17:28, 18:08, 18:51, 8:40 (2.195km). As you can see, it got extremely slow towards the end.

I have now experienced the best and worst that a marathon has to offer. I think that this has made me a stronger athlete, and will prepare me for what I will face in the future. I came in with a lot of expectation for myself, but experienced the unfortunate "off-day" that can rear its head when you least expect it. I'm not going to dwell on what happened because what's done is done. I will bounce back and do my best to ensure that my next marathon outing is much more memorable.

After all, I was able to race in an Australian singlet at the Commonwealth Games. While I may not have performed as well as I had hoped, the ability to represent this great country, carrying the hopes of Australia has made me very proud to be Australian. I have no doubt that I will win a Commonwealth Games medal, I will just have to wait another 4 years before I get my next chance. For now, I will have a couple of weeks off, get married and get back into training for 2011 and a shot at World Champs.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me thus far. Please see a list of all of my sponsors and supporters here.

We still have a long road ahead before I reach my potential. I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

Good, better, best, my father-in-law was fond of saying, never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better best.

Commonwealth Games host cities have paraphrased this old saying. Big, bigger, biggest, never let it rest, until your big is bigger, and your bigger biggest.

Delhi 2010 is a prelude to a bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. Melbourne 2006, in Ron Walker’s words, was bigger than the Olympics, Manchester 2002 showcased a redevelopment of the city’s rundown east, Kuala Lumpur 1998 showed the Commonwealth that an Asian city could successfully host the Games.

You have to go back to Victoria 1994 to find an event conducted on a scale more commensurate with “The Friendly Games,” as we used to know the Commonwealth Games.

Wikipedia, indeed, describes the 1994 edition alternatively as ‘The Lightweight Games’ or ‘the Last Original Games’, the latter because it was the last time on which team sports were excluded.

Victoria is the administrative capital of British Columbia, of which Vancouver is the largest city. Victoria is located on Vancouver Island, and is a sleepy little place irreverently dubbed Vancouver’s retirement village. It also contains the campus of the University of Victoria whose Centennial Stadium hosted the athletics events. The stadium’s capacity, a-la-Brisbane 1982, was boosted by the erection of temporary stands all the way around.

The Village was university accommodation, augmented by temporary blocks.

Delhi, Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur sit at one end of the spectrum of host cities, hosts which will boost the Games to bursting point, straining credibility in the pursuit of visibility (see Ron Walker’s remarks above which, incidentally, went down a treat in Melbourne). Their Game have to compete for space with other events and the bustle of daily life

Cities like Victoria occupy the other end of this spectrum. The Games are the only event in such towns. Everyone knows about them, everyone is talking about them, the bloke you buy the paper from in the morning you are likely to see in the evening as a volunteer at a competition venue.

The same tends to happen even with world championships. Berlin, Paris, Osaka, say, compared with Edmonton and Gothenburg.

Commonwealth Games or world championships, however, are both heading towards the big city end of the spectrum.

If that’s the case, then we may have reason to look back at a Games like Victoria’s with fondness. Even at Commonwealth level, they may have been the last of their kind. In any case, we haven’t had one similar since.

Victoria was one of the last stages on which veteran Australian administrator Arthur Tunstall strutted his stuff. For years, Tunstall was the man who ran the Commonwealth Games team. Working mostly from his home in Rose Bay, Sydney, he ran the Commonwealth Games Association like his personal fiefdom.

What Arthur said went. His run-ins with athletes and fellow administrators were the stuff of legend. Herb Elliott, Ron Clarke, Dawn Fraser, Jane Flemming, Lisa Curry, Cathy Freeman all shared one thing _ at one time they were the recipients of a ‘my way or the highway’ edict from Arthur.

Victoria 1994 was pretty much Arthur’s swansong. His wings were clipped after that, to such an extent that he was not even invited to Manchester 2002. But Victoria saw a vintage performance. He had fought with Flemming and Curry before the Games over advertising issues, threatening to boot both off the team.

At the Games, Arthur had to ‘cope’ with Cathy Freeman’s gesture of carrying both an Australian and an aboriginal flag on her 400 metres victory lap. He ranted and raved, the fact that he was never going to win the argument was irrelevant.

I remember going to cover an ‘Arthur’ story early in the Games. As we came out of the underground car park to head out to the Village, we had to stop to allow two pedestrians to walk in front of our car. Not just any two pedestrians, but John Landy and Roger Bannister, who had some famous race or another across on the mainland in Vancouver in 1954.

Any other day, I remarked to our photographer, we’d have leapt out of the car and done a story on those two. This day, though, our story was yet another of Arthur’s bull in a china shop comments.

Athletically, there was much to enjoy in Victoria. ‘Mona’, chef de mission in Delhi, won the marathon with a second half run in sub-2:08 pace. Freeman was superb, beating strong opposition in the 400 _ Nigeria’s Fatima Yusuf and Sandie Richards of Jamaica, before running down race favourite Mary Onyali of Nigeria in a trademark Freeman finish to win the 200.

Australia was disqualified in the 4x400 after Freeman barged out of a box created by England’s Sally and Richards to get to the lead. Arthur Tunstall was probably on her side in that one, but the disqualification stood.

There were other dream-come-true stories. Horace Dove Edwin, from Sierra Leone, had made his own way to the Games. He did not march in the Opening Ceremony because his country could not afford a uniform and he improved sensationally to take second in the 100 behind Linford Christie.

The dream turned sour when Dove Edwin tested positive.

Tim Forsyth won a great battle with his nemesis, Steve Smith of England, in the high jump. Forsyth won on a jump-off after both men had cleared 2.32 metres. Geoff Parsons of Scotland was third with 2.31, in a high-class competition.

Kelly Holmes, then an ‘ordinary good’ runner rather than a dual Olympic champion, won the women’s 1500 while Angela Chalmers delighted the home fans with a win in the women’s 3000 in 8:32.17, still a Canadian record.

All these people made Victoria’s a memorable Games, as did Arthur Tunstall. We certainly shall not see Arthur dominating the headlines at a Commonwealth Games again. And, sadly, we may never see another host like Victoria.

It’s now 13 day’s until the start of the Commonwealth Games and I am definitely starting to get the odd buzz of excitement in my tummy. My Australian uniform arrived last week and this was certainly very exciting, cementing the fact that I had been chosen to represent our beautiful Country ‘Australia’. However I can’t say that the enormity of it all has set in yet,  but I don’t expect that it will until the Games are all over and I arrive back home.

I arrived in Cairns last night ready to compete at the Oceana Championships. I am loving the warm and muggy weather as it reminds me of my home town ‘Alice Springs’. I will spend the next 9 day’s here before departing for Delhi on the 30^th.

I competed at the all stars meet in Sydney a week ago. The atmosphere whilst competing was fantastic, definitely put a spring in my step. It had been a long time between races so the first hit out is always a little scary. Although my time was not fantastic this was the first race in a while and I came away with a huge amount of confidence as I was very pleased with most of my race.  I feel very confident and expect dramatic improvements in my next couple of races here at the Oceana Games before departing for Delhi.

I recently made a big decision to quit my job as I was finding it quite difficult being a remedial massage therapist, balancing my training with my work. So decided to prioritize and focus my full attention on training,  at least until the Commonwealth Games are over anyway. So I have been enjoying the past month of being a full time athlete, which has definitely proved to be a great decision as I felt a huge amount of relief and training improved instantly.

Anyway better leave it there for now as my coach ‘Tony Fairweather’ is telling me to get to bed.

Pirrenee Steinert.

With only six days left at home before I start my time off work for the games I'm starting to get anxious. Although I am only going to Cairns initially, I wont be going back home until I land in Sydney on 16th October. It will be the longest continuous period away from home that I've ever had.

This means I'll also be spending one month away from Heidi, but thanks to Skype, at least I'll be able to "see" her while I'm away. Its a wonderful technology which I am not sure I could ever have done without. So long as internet works at Cairns and in the village, I can video-conference with Heidi for free.  Thats right, it will cost nothing, nada, zip! Can't get much better than that. It still doesn't make up for not being able to give her a hug, but its better than just hearing a voice on the phone.

Additionally, this time away means I'm going to have to get someone else to massage and manipulate my body in place of Heidi and Jonesy. Those two have been working on me for years, and know exactly how my body reacts to treatment. Its a comfort zone that you don't really ever want to leave. Keeping up my twice-weekly massage, and weekly Osteopath appointment will be tough when sharing a couple of people with the whole team, but I'll just have to turn up with a plan and book in early.

 

Cairns is going to be very important for me before I head to Delhi.  It will hopefully help my body get ready for the hot temperatures we are expecting to experience in India. Its always a shock going from cold weather to warm weather, so doing it 24 days before I race means I will be giving my body ample opportunity to adjust, learning to keep itself cool in warm climates. That, coupled with increasing and maintaining my daily fluid intake, is about the best thing you can do to prepare for potential adverse conditions.

Training has been going very well. The body is in check and I'm just reeling of the training runs. In these final few weeks I just have to make sure that I don't overdo it, pushing that envelope a little bit too far. All the hard work has been done, and its almost time to start to freshen up. I would rather go into a race underdone, than overcooked.

 

So, its six days left of cold, inconsistent Sydney weather before the hot, humid and tropical Cairns weather. Its both exciting and daunting at the same time. Exciting because I'm going to my first Commonwealth Games, but daunting because it means that race day is now rushing towards us. The countdown is on and I can't wait.

CHECK OUT JEFF'S WEBSITE HERE

by Chris Wainwright

Matt Beckenham - Making His Mark on the International Coaching Scene (Part 2)

**Editor: Please note the following interview was conducted on the 1^st August, and was broken down into two parts due to the length of the interview**.

• Mizuno – Lauren Boden and Tom Burbidge
• Asics – Melissa Breen and Brendan Cole
• 2XU – Brendan Cole

by Chris Wainwright

In 2000 Matt Beckenham was representing Australia at the Sydney Olympics in the 400m hurdles. A decade on he will be playing an important role as coach to the likes of Melissa Breen, Lauren Boden and Brendan Cole as they step out onto the track at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

We caught up the 34 year-old Beckenham just prior to his trip over to Singapore for the Youth Olympics, where he will be leading some of Australia's top youth track athletes.


Currently I am also looking at running some junior coaching clinics (MattyB’s FIT4FUN) within the ACT. I presented the concept at a recent ACT Little Athletics AGM and the feedback was quite positive. I have put 7 of my senior athletes through a coaching course so that they can run the sessions and earn some money to help them cover some of their expenses. I will act in a mentor role and try and offer local little athletics clubs with a mechanism for retention of athletes and also provide a coach development and training service.

{part 2 - coming soon to RT}