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That’s what the Beijing Games is offering a couple of Aussie superstars of the water when the circus kicks off on the 8th of the 8th, 08. 

Libby Trickett and Grant Hackett will spearhead the Aussie assault on the medal tally and record books. Libby lines up in three individual races and two relays with the hope of winning a staggering five gold medals. The beautiful part is she’s ranked number one in the world in all three events: the 100 butterfly and the 50 & 100 freestyle. The relay teams are also dominant.

Shane Gould has won the most medals at an Olympics with her wonderful effort of 3 gold, a silver and a bronze in 1972. In Athens in 2004 Petria Thomas and Jodie Henry won three gold medals each in an impressive effort, but with five events Libby has a real opportunity to become Australia’s greatest ever gold medallist at a single Olympics. 

If she’s successful, add her relay Gold from Athens and she would become our greatest Olympic Gold Medal winner.

I think Libby has done everything right in her preparations, including dropping a berth in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay, to win all five events. 

Aussie teenager Cate Campbell is shaping as the major threat to her gold aspirations in the 50 and 100 freestyle. The 16 year old teenager has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the world rankings in the last 12 months and now sits 3rd fastest in history in the 50 and equal 4th in the 100.

Meanwhile, on the testosterone side of the Aussie team, captain courageous Grant Hackett is chasing an Olympic first.  For the first time since the modern Games started in 1896 Grant could be the first male swimmer to collect gold in the same event at three consecutive Olympics. 

It just happens to be the hardest race of the program too, the 1500!  Dutchman Pieter Van Den Hoogenband could steal his thunder by winning the 100 freestyle earlier in the meet, but Hoogie just hasn’t shown any form over the past few years and I don’t feel he really has a shot against Australia’s Eamon Sullivan and Frenchman Alain Bernard. 

Grant’s form is the opposite of Hoogie’s, and Hacky is fit, fast and ready to go. 

For a further psychological shot at his young opposition, Grant broke his own world short course 800 metre record at a small meet just last week. It was his first record in three years and probably the most important in his career. It sends a clear message to all his competitors in Beijing: “you’d better be ready to race because I certainly am”! 

I think Grant is knocking on the door of Olympic history and it will arrive on day 10 of the Games in the last event on the swimming program. 

It will also be on that day when Trickett will swim her 5th and final event, the 50 freestyle, so it’s going to be a fantastic way to finish the swimming in Beijing. 

Imagine this scenario as you watch Seven’s coverage and the build-up all week to the final session. 

Libby has collected four golds already with victory in the 100 butterfly by 1/100th of a second over Jess Schipper, gold and a new world record in the 100 freestyle in the Aussie quinella, with Cate Campbell recording the second fastest time in history. Also, our women bounced the Americans in both the 4 x 100 freestyle and medley relays both in WR times. So four down and a history making 5th gold only 24 odd seconds away. 

One race later our skipper mounts the blocks for the 14 minutes and 40 seconds of truth in the 1500. 

Grant owns all the great times for the race and has only suffered one loss in the last 11 years. This race will most likely be his swansong and victory would slam a full-stop on one of the most exciting swimming careers in the history of the sport. 

Thirty laps and it’s all over. It reminds you of the pressure Cathy Freeman must have felt at Stadium Australia at the 2000 Sydney Games. The Bruce McAvaney ‘specials’ will be raining down like confetti at a wedding as Grant comes down the final lap in front!

What would the TV ratings numbers add up to with that little drama on the menu?

We can only hope, pray and dream it becomes a reality on Day 10 of action!

Like Libby, I think Grant’s up to the challenge.  He’ll soak up the pressure and swim 14.41.30 to take his third Olympic gold and leave his mark on Games history for ever. 

Enjoy the Games and good luck to Grant and Libby.

DA.

Under a month to go folks until the greatest sports show on Earth blasts off in Beijing at 8 minutes past 8 on the 8th of the 8th 08! 

The Chinese love being precise and love the number 8 so if they can pull off that little feat of beginning the Games on time, the next 16 days of competition should be beauties.

When you assemble the world’s greatest athletes it’s all about freaks. The biggest, fastest and most skilful sporting freaks in the world all eating and living in the one village before heading out to wage battle in some of the world’s most sophisticated sporting arenas. 

Talk about daily dramas! Who wins, who loses, what country is more powerful than the next.  Who is tougher, stronger, meaner and can handle the pressure of the ‘five ring circus’? Don’t us Aussie sporting tragics love it! What’s not to love? Everything about the Olympic Games appeals to us at a very deep and primitive level.

But more than anything during the Olympics I love the contrasts you find in every sport, in every team, on every day of the Games. 

Take for example the final day of swimming at the ‘Water Cube’ when you will see 16 year old Cate Campbell line up for the final of the 50 freestyle. At 16 Cate is just beginning her international career and she finds herself staring down the smooth water of her lane in the final of the Olympics Games! 

Her race is only going to take 25 odd seconds, any mistakes and she will have to wait four years for another go at it. If she turns left or right Cate will find the world’s fastest female swimmers, including world record holder and teammate Libby Trickett. 

At that young age how does Cate soak up that pressure and not let it crush her?  The answer is numbers.  Numbers like the thousands of training laps Cate has swum. 4:12 is the time in the morning her alarm clock has been waking her up to go to the pool, the hundreds of races she has competed in, the dozens of losses Cate has overcome. Those numbers will save Cate from cracking on the pool deck and give her the strength to focus on what’s important when the gun goes. 

Contrast what Cate is feeling to the next race when Aussie skipper Grant Hackett approaches his block for his last Olympic swim in the 1500 freestyle. 

Grant could be racing into history as the first man to ever to win the same event at three consecutive Games. He’ll want to make his swansong a golden moment, a fitting end to an extraordinary career. 

Grant’s pressure will be completely different to Cate’s, with the expectations of a nation, his last opportunity to perform, history beckoning, a poor last performance and much younger rivals. He can’t afford to compare his Beijing racing and preparation to any of his last Olympics, he will be focusing only on the present. 15 minutes and then he can hang up the suit forever. Will it be with the ultimate prize in his grasp? I believe that he will do it, but only time will tell.

So you can see the contrast at just one venue on one day between just two competitors.  Now multiply that to 10,500 other competitors and you can see why the Olympics brings out such wonderful stories of human endeavour, stories of endeavour that can last in our memory for a lifetime.

Enjoy the Games everyone.  Go the Aussies.

With only a handful of weeks remaining until the start of the Beijing Olympics we’re reading in the press how over 80 of Australia’s athletes have opted to stay out of the Opening Ceremony activities.

Many of my family and friends have expressed their surprise at this decision to miss what they see as the most fulfilling aspect of representing Australia at an Olympics. 

However, for the athlete, the Opening Ceremony has always been a bonus if it’s not too close to your competition.  We’ve all heard about the pollution and atmospheric challenges our athletes face in China, so for many marching in and standing around for hours in those conditions is just not an option.  Years of training goes into performing at your peak in your events, so bailing on this incredible honour is just part of an athlete’s Olympic journey which hopefully ends in gold for Australia.

We all have such strong emotions and memories of watching our team enter the Olympic Stadium and at the ‘Bird’s Nest’ in Beijing that feeling is set to continue for our sports mad public.

There’s also plenty of excitement from the Queensland Olympic Council headquarters in Brisbane, due to the fact that so many Queenslander’s have placed themselves on the team for Beijing.  QOC Executive Director Michael Brially is practically doing cartwheels about the 80 odd Maroons who have gained selection so far.

Brially and his staff work tremendously hard for Qld athletes, raising funds and performing support services for young Olympians.  The QOC does a top job and the selections reflect this.
Leaving the Olympic theme for just a moment, what a year it’s been for State of Origin football, what a series! 

No matter if you’re a Blue or a Maroon supporter (better if you’re the latter of course!) this series has had everything.  And now it’s on to the decider next on July 2, bring it on! 
It was great to see the Queensland Team of Century acknowledged before Game II at Suncorp Stadium.  The NRL and ARL have done an amazing job this year in celebrating 100 years of League.  As a League tragic of massive proportions I’ve enjoyed so many of the celebrations this season.  If Queensland can win on Wednesday and the Broncos farewell Wayne Bennett with his 7th Premiership, my world will be completely balanced and at peace!

Enjoy the run down to Beijing and get ready to cheer on the Aussie Swim Team in particular for the first 8 days of competition.  I believe our team will capture close to 12 gold medals in the pool which will make it our best team in Olympics history.  More on our chances next time.

Cheers,
Duncan.

There have been plenty of different stories in the media lately, highlighting how we as Aussies obsess about different aspects of sport.

The media have weighed in on major topics, as is their job, but done so with differeing degrees of respect and accuracy.

Firstly let’s have a look at the continuing Nick D’Arcy drama unfolding in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS. 

D’Arcy is public enemy number one and was voted by a popular Australian sports magazine as the most hated figure in world sport.  Whichever side of the argument you’re on, whether D’Arcy should be wearing the green and gold in Beijing or watching from his parents’ home on the Sunshine Coast, no one can debate the size of the media-driven frenzy this whole episode has created. 

My question is: did this nightclub incident deserve all the camera time, radio time and column space? 

Then we turn our attention Australian swimming skipper Grant Hackett and his so-called ‘roof over the tool shed’. 

Hackett was photographed and videoed after his attempt to win a place in the 10 kilometre event at the Beijing Olympics failed at the trials in Spain. 

A completely spent and disappointed Hackett didn’t look especially good in the shots and why would he?  He’d just flogged himself to death over 10 painful kilometres and was set upon by the entire field in a race that took over and hour and half. For me that is plenty of reason to let it all hang out! 

Then the media steps in and hits high gear because they believe, in their infinite swimming wisdom, that Hacky is unfit.  For 48 hours the story raged, including viewer phone polls on both Seven’s Sunrise program and Nine’s A Current Affair.  The question was “Is Grant Hackett fat or fit?”  Can you believe it? 

Then in the best natural stitch-up in many years the media assembled on mass to Hackett’s training base in Melbourne for his first swim session back, and hey presto, he looked awesome, fit and trim and with a six pack in place, wondering what all the fuss was about. 

Grant Hackett is class act from start to finish and, like so many of our great champions, deserves better treatment at the hands of our media.  It was a nothing story to begin with and Grant will have the last laugh by winning another Olympic gold medal for Australia in Beijing.

So now that I’ve had two digs at our media services let me compliment them in the most appreciative way.  The passing of Jack Gibson during the week brought a tremendous outpouring of appreciation for this great Australian achiever and mentor, from many people who had the privilege of knowing him. 

All the news services and especially the Nine Network did an incredible job of bringing to our attention the importance of Jack’s life, not only in Rugby League but in the fabric of sport in this country. 

I sat at home entranced by the reporting of unknown details, quotes, achievements and failures of an extraordinary man who led an incredible life.  The first-hand stories and accounts of when people met Jack, were coached by him, or were lucky enough to call him a friend or mate was very touching and emotional. 

Our media can become a beast at times on certain issues however no one does a tribute to a great Australian better and one of their finest hours was during this week in remembering the great Jack Gibson. 

Duncan

Interesting developments were reported in the weekend papers over the appeal of Brisbane swimmer Andrew Mewing which centres on his non-selection in the Aussie Olympic Team for Beijing. 

Mewing finished 8th in the 200 metre freestyle at the Telstra Nationals in March in an A-qualifier time, but wasn’t selected on the team for the 4 x 200 freestyle relay.

Swimming Australia criteria states that up to eighth place in the 100m or 200m finals will be considered for selection, provided the swimmer has met the B-qualifying time.

Ordinarily this might have been a bit strange but what made it a controversial omission were the later actions of Head Coach Alan Thompson and the selection panel.

Thompson and the selection panel then went on to make another decision, a decision which made Mewing’s omission all the more puzzling.

They then chose to select Felicity Galvez for the ladies 4 x 200 freestyle relay when Galvez only posted a B-qualifier time and is ranked only the 9th fastest in the 200 freestyle.

You can see where Mewing is coming from when asking the Swimming Australia tribunal to ‘please explain’ his omission from the team when his credentials stack-up better than Galvez.

Mewing’s background in swimming is impressive. He’s represented Australia on a number of occasions, and I feel he won’t let Australia or our 4 x 200 relay down in any way in Beijing. From an Olympian’s perspective I’d like to see as many swimmers go to the Olympics as possible, provided they meet the criteria and I’m sure the AOC feels the same way due to the record our swimmers have at the Olympics.

Australia’s swimmers have brought home over 150 medals since the modern games kicked off in 1896; the closest to that medal count is Athletics which is back on 65!

So do you think the AOC would like to cram more swimmers onto the Beijing team?  I think so too!  Mewing is a very popular swimmer and has received a wave of support from past and present swimmers, many in the current team, who want him to press on in his bid to become an Olympian. 

This case is seen by many as a watershed moment for swimmers in Australia.

Many controversial non-selections have occurred over the years but very few have actually been fought through the system.  Swimming Australia has so much swimming depth to pick from and a very successful selection criterion which has served our teams well for decades. 

However there are gaps in every system through which individuals can fall into and therefore there has to be an avenue in which the individual can fight for his case. We are seeing this with Mewing’s case and if his bid is successful it will give future swimmers confidence the system will allow them to air their grievances in terms of non-selection.

Mewing now fronts the Court of Arbitration for Sport to get an objective look at his swimming results, tribunal hearing and case for selection.  Alan Thompson is quoted on the weekend saying the team will welcome Mewing if CAS finds he was denied natural justice in his tribunal hearing and should have been selected. 

I say give the bloke a go in the good old Aussie fashion.  Mewing has swum fast enough to qualify for the Olympics and there’s a spot open on the Aussie team, so what’s the hold-up?