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Olympic Trials : Are Australian Athletes peaking too early?

Unlike many countries fielding teams in track and field, the Australian Olympic trials are traditionally featured at the end of the Australian summer athletics calendar, which can be up to six months before the Olympic Games themselves. A comparison between the dates of the Olympic trials for various countries can be seen below.

Australia-28th Feb - 1st March
America-27th June - 6th July
New Zealand-28th - 30th March
United Kingdom-11th – 13th July
Kenya-14th - 15th June
Canada-19th – 21st May
Ethiopia-24th – 25th May
Russia-July

This begs the question, are Australian athletes at a disadvantage when compared to these Northern Hemisphere countries?

The main argument for the trials to be held at such an early date is weather. The seasonal differences between the northern and southern hemisphere mean that Australia is deep into winter by the time the Games draw near, whereas in the Americas, Europe and Northern Africa, the track season is in full swing.

    

Australian indoor mile record holder Mark Fountain argues against the current system, where Australian athletes are forced to peak twice in a season. In an interview with The Runners Tribe, Fountain explained;

“Our trials are about 4-5months earlier than most countries in the world and the majority of our athletes are forced to peak too soon in order to qualify for the big meet, resulting in a lot of our athletes being burnt out by the time the Championships (Olympics) roll around. If you look at the Sydney Olympics which was probably our most successful, the trials were only one month before the Games. I think the best solution would be to push our season back two months and have the trials in May or June and not February. We have the weather in Australia to make it possible, and this would have our athletes at their peak at the most important time”.

The majority of respected track and field coaches argue that it is better for an athlete's preparation to have to peak only once within a twelve month period. Many of the coaching philosophies of great coaches such as Arthur Lydiard and Peter Coe are based around a twelve month cycle. Forcing athletes to peak twice within a six month period usually results in two mediocre performances whilst, on the other hand, if an athlete only has to perform at the trials approximately four weeks before the Olympics, it is quite probable that they can maintain that peak up until the games.

It is also interesting to note that some of Australia’s elite athletes are granted exemptions from the Olympic trials, so that they can continue their base training in other countries. Craig Mottram and Cathy Freeman are two frequently cited examples. This exemption gives them the opportunity to run their best race at the highest level of competition, and not in the qualification process itself.

The intent of this article is to promote discussion amongst athletes and spectators in Australia. After having taken all of the above into account, would it be a fair assessment to say that if the Australian Olympic trials was only four weeks prior to the Games, we would see more athletes qualified, and better performances when it counts most?

Follow the link to discuss this topic-Australian Olympic Trials

This article has been brought to you by The Runner’s Tribe. The aim of the article is simply to raise awareness and encourage discussion and thought. No opinions expressed within the article are necessarily supported by The Runner’s Tribe.