Chapter Ten: The build up to Olympic Team selections
After I came back from the 1999 World Championships in November, there really was no time to rest or ease off. The NSW team was invited to compete in the Nauru Cup 2000 in January along with the Australian team, so the Burwood crew all trained through the Christmas period, including Boxing Day and New Year’s Day (we were allowed Christmas day off – lucky us!). We knew Nauru was going to be hot and humid, so the coaches made us shut all the windows in the gym and turned off the fans (there was no air con either). It was our own little sweat-box to get us acclimatised.
Luke had also decided around that time that I should compete in a few competitions at the 63kg weight class, weighing not too heavy – around 60kg, to try to qualify for the Olympic Selection Trials in two weight divisions. I had already qualified for the Trials at 58kg. His idea was to broaden our options, plus if Meagan qualified and was selected at 58kg, at least there would be room for both of us if worst came to worst and they couldn’t select two in the one weight division. At first I was upset, as I thought the reason was mainly to give Meagan more chance of getting selected. I didn’t think it was fair that I had to go up a weight class just to free up room to help her. Why couldn’t she move up? But I eventually realised it worked in my favour really, as it gave me more chances of being selected, especially if Meagan was to pull out a good total in the next few months and overtake me.
I wasn’t too happy about competing heavy though – I copped enough flack from everyone in the gym about having a big butt as it was – now it was to get even bigger! I know looks shouldn’t matter when it could mean the difference between going to the Olympics or not, but I still had some self-image issues. I always have been a bit of a girl in the gym – hence the nickname I was given in the early days of “Princess” –because I liked to whinge like a little princess, if I broke a nail, tore a callus or fell on my backside.
So in January I went to Nauru again (as part of the Australian team) and I competed at 63kg. I nearly bombed in the snatch, missing my first two attempts, but then fortunately I succeeded with my third attempt on 80kg, which was 2 ½ kg heavier than the first two attempts. Jack Walls was coaching me and said the problem was that the weight was too light! I think a few people were impressed I managed to pull it together under pressure and come back successful on a heavier weight. It proved I didn’t go to pieces when the pressure was on. In the Clean and Jerk I finished with 102.5kg – a new PB. I just missed out on best lifter to Michelle Kettner, who wasn’t in very good shape due to a problematic knee injury at the time. Luke said she had to work really hard to beat me on Sinclair formula – she won by less than one point.
Around this time I was introduced to media. I was asked to appear on a kids breakfast program called the Big Breakfast and we spent a whole Sunday morning taping shots of me training, ending with an interview. It was great fun and although I had a stinking cold on the day and was a little bit nervous before hand, I felt like I did really well and was pleased with the end result when it appeared on TV. Although when I watch the old recording now I cringe (watch here). Unlike some other higher profile sports, we had no media training.
Some newspapers also came in and interviewed a few of us ‘Olympic hopefuls’. Michelle received most of the attention as it was pretty much a certainty she would be on the team, but Meagan, Mehmet and I were also interviewed. It was all really good experience for the hype that would occur later in the year.
In March 2000, the Olympic Test Event was held at the Sydney Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. This was a dress rehearsal with everything arranged to mimic the real Olympics, at the real venue, complete with international competitors. They had only selected two weight classes for this event for the men and women; the women’s divisions were 69kg and 75kg plus. It was obvious to me this was based on Michelle Kettner and Caroline Pileggi – in the early days it was expected they would be the top two lifters selected to compete for Australia at the Olympics. I thought it would be good experience for me to lift in this event so I convinced Luke I could temporarily put on weight to weigh in at 63.1 kg. It was actually harder than I thought putting on the weight and I ended up having to drink 2 litres of water before the weigh in. Plus (I hate to admit this) I may have cheated just a little by putting lead weights down my pants and in my hair-bun before stepping on the scales to weigh in. I would never have gotten away with this at a real international event. They usually make us strip down completely naked for weigh-ins, including making us remove any hair ties.
I performed quite well in this competition too, with an equal PB total (82.5kg snatch and 100kg C&J) and it was a great experience to lift in the same conditions and environment that I hoped to be in later in the year. Highlights were shown on TV on Channel Seven – you can watch the Snatches here.
During this build up to the Games selections I isolated myself from everything outside of weightlifting, other than work, which I obviously needed to help pay the mortgage and bills. The previous year I declined an invitation to the wedding of one of my oldest friends because it was on a Saturday afternoon and would have meant missing a training session; I could only go to her wedding reception in the evening. I began to decline most social invitations and lost contact with pretty much all my old school friends at this point. To be honest after one jokingly asked “so are you on the gear” it made it easier to decline the next invitation out. About the only thing I went to was a funeral of one of my close school friends who sadly passed away, way too young, in early 2000.
I was working full-time as an Insurance Broker at North Sydney, still doing the early sessions at Burwood PCYC before work and after work, leaving home at 5.30am and often not getting home on the northern beaches of Sydney until after 8.30pm at which time we then had to organise dinner. Steve was still working two jobs, I still had some NSWIS support for out of pocket costs which helped with training fees and travel for competitions and yet we still had no spare money – all our money went on our mortgage and bills, thanks to the cost of living in Sydney. Around April, I approached my employer (a small brokerage firm called Chambers Gallop McMahon) about possibly getting some support on the basis I was getting close to the selection trials and was beginning to have a realistic chance of getting on the team. With the Olympic Games getting closer there was quite a buzz and level of excitement developing in Sydney and I think this helped them look kindly at my request. They generously agreed that for the next few months I could start a little later at 10am and finish at 4pm, and they would pay me the same salary. The shorter work hours would certainly make it a little easier, with more recovery time and sleep.
One Friday night heavy session in April 2000, I almost had a major set-back. I was attempting an 85kg snatch for the first time. I missed it, fell back and the bar came down heavy with the gravity, landing on my right shin which had flung out in front of me. I ended up with a long scrape down my shin, the impact so painful I thought at first I had broken my leg. After a quick inspection, we decided to bandage my leg up and I kept on training. I even managed a PB Power Clean and Jerk on 95kg. I was in so much pain, but I felt like I had to ‘get back on the horse’. I didn’t want to be a wimp and let a bit of pain stop me. Besides it was good for developing mental toughness, which is so important in weightlifting. If you stopped training every time you felt a bit of pain, a torn callus, or scraped shin you would be missing sessions almost every week! (Although this was more than a scraped shin!) By the time I got home my leg had swollen up and was throbbing really badly. I don’t think I have ever felt such pain, to the point where I was in tears. The only relief was to keep my leg up, so there I was, trying to cook myself dinner (Steve was at work) with my heel up on the kitchen bench – I would have looked a sight if anyone could see me. It hurt a lot over the next week, though I still kept on training. We even bought a soccer shin guard as my leg was still swollen. Just like when you have a mouth ulcer and can’t stop running your tongue over it, for some reason without the shin guard I kept bumping the bar against my shin as I started to pull the bar off the floor – it was extremely painful. The impact every time I landed a snatch, clean or jerk also really hurt. I still have the scar today and I still flinch every time I see someone else miss a weight in the same way.
A month before the Olympic Trials, we went back to Nauru, this time for the Oceania Championships. This was the third out of the four qualifying events to be taken into consideration for selection on the Olympic Team, along with the 1999 Nationals, 1999 World’s and final Trials being held in June 2000. Again I was in the Australian team, lifting at a ‘light’ 63kg, weighing around 60kg. I won my weight class by a mile and again just missed out on best lifter. I even got the 85kg snatch finally, it landed just in the right place on my second attempt. I was attempting some big weights at this competition – missed 87.5kg on my third Snatch attempt and missed 105kg twice on the Clean & Jerk. I had well and truly qualified at 63kg for the Olympic Trials with a 185kg Total here. Meagan unfortunately had a shocker and bombed. We were all really worried it had jeopardised her chances of being selected on the Olympic team. She had qualified for the Trials at 58kg but had only competed / totalled in one of the qualifying events so far meaning it would all come down to the Trials for her. I felt even worse because at the airport on the way over there when she was buying duty free alcohol, I had joked about her buying it to drown her sorrows after the competition. I hoped I hadn’t jinxed her! And I hoped karma wasn’t going to come back and bite me!
Coming up next – Chapter 11: Sydney 2000 Olympic Team selections