Journey of an Olympian. Chapter 22

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Chapter Twenty-Two: Arrival in Manchester

At Paris airport in transit

Although most of us were in good spirits and excited, travelling on a long haul flight to Manchester with stops in Singapore and Paris was still hard to endure. It was especially hard for me trying to lose weight on a strict and limited diet. It hadn’t helped having a couple of hours layover in Singapore and then another couple of hours at the airport in Paris from 6.20am. (I loved the space age architecture style of Charles de Gaulle). I had managed to catch some sleep on the flight but as with any long haul flight, still arrived feeling quite stiff.

In Manchester, on the bus to the Athletes village

When we arrived at the airport in Manchester on the morning of Tuesday 23rd July, there were TV cameras everywhere and of all things, bongo music was playing (don’t ask me why). Damien Brown was interviewed with Luke (Luke was Head Coach) while we got on the buses. We were off to get our accreditation (that process went much quicker than usual), then we headed to the Athletes village. The drive through Manchester felt strange. It didn’t feel like I was in England and yet there were familiar sites everywhere, like chip-shops, curry houses and pubs. Everyone was having a chuckle when they saw the huge ASDA’s everywhere and I explained it was a supermarket chain not drug testing places! Finally, we all arrived at the athletes village, all of us tired from travelling and wanting showers. However we had to sit through a meeting where we were given information about the ways things generally worked. I’m sure only half of it went in I was so brain dead. It was around 2pm by the time we got to our rooms.

Our room

The living arrangements at the Village were testing. The Village was a University Campus and we were sleeping in dorms, which were tiny little rooms with bunk-beds, with two people sharing per room.   The rooms were so small one had to jump on the bottom bunk to let the other pass by. I can’t imagine how the Supers survived! Consequently, most of us spent our time in the common room at the end of each corridor. There we had a TV with access to live Channel 7 broadcasts so we felt right at home, able to catch up on news and some of the programmes we like to watch at home. Plus we had a fridge full of cold drinks (and ice-creams thanks to Alex, not that I could eat any). Mostly we played cards to pass the time – thankfully with no money involved. Cards aren’t my forte!

The Village Dining Hall from my point of view was disappointing. Having been to the Sydney Olympics where the food was excellent, I found the food in Manchester in comparison was not as nice or varied – the limited food I could eat was pretty unappetising – mainly salad and overcooked vegetables and chicken breasts – steak was a big ask! The menu usually consisted of curries, pastas and lots of fried things like fish and chips – some of which I would normally love but it just didn’t suit my diet at all!

The next couple of days we tried to get over jet lag and into the new time zone. This was difficult. I kept waking up at 3am and 4am. At training I felt all giddy when I put my head down, bending over the bar, I felt like I was swaying. At least my bodyweight was going well, around 55.7kg. My snatch was still off and cleans felt sluggish and heavy but my leg strength was still ok squatting, so I wasn’t too worried. I convinced myself I was strong enough and just had to get over the jet lag.

Our training venue

After training on 24th July, most of our team went on to the Australian team welcoming function, while a few (including me) went back to the village. I wasn’t feeling that great and really wanted to conserve energy. At the function they announced our 77kg lifter, Damien Brown, would be the flag bearer at the Opening ceremony (we found out while having dinner). This was Damien’s 4th Commonwealth Games. We were all quite excited they chose a weightlifter.

When the Opening Ceremony came on 25th July I really wanted to march as I had enjoyed the experience in Sydney immensely. However I was advised against it and so I decided not to go. It was only a few days out from competition and it meant a lot of standing around, they were estimating being on your feet for about 6 hours. I was already feeling a bit run down and lacking in energy from the dieting and weight loss, and the last thing I wanted was to get sick. I already had a bit of a sore throat. Besides the physical side of marching, the euphoria experienced can also be very draining and takes time to get over. Being in the 53kg class this time I was competing only a few days later. There was a risk there wasn’t enough time to recover from an experience like this. I wasn’t willing to take any risks at this stage.

I had already inwardly decided it would be best I didn’t go, when Luke told me he had decided I would not march. I took exception to his choice of words. So I threw a temper tantrum, with tears and all. I put it down to the dieting, plus the fact I hated being treated like I am stupid. I felt he should have given me more credit, that I was smart enough not to do anything which would be detrimental to my performance. But then again (in Luke’s defence) I was dieting and my mind wasn’t exactly thinking rationally as demonstrated by my tearful tantrum. Perhaps he didn’t think I was capable of making the right decision. But he should have asked me before telling me what I was (or wasn’t) going to do. If he’d asked, I would have told him I agreed it was not the right thing to do.

I ended up watching the Opening Ceremony on TV with a handful of the others who stayed back with me (Rob, Meagan, Alex and Marty). It was a good decision in hindsight as the others didn’t get back until after midnight. At least I didn’t have to appear in that ‘lovely’ beige suit and stripy shirt which everyone else was delighted to wear… and by that stage it was too big for me anyway! I was down to 55.2 kg and my clothes were beginning to hang off me.

The Australian weightlifting team

Coming up next – Chapter 23: Village life leading up to competition