Chapter Twenty-Four: My day of competition at the Commonwealth Games
Day 6 of the Commonwealth Games- 31st July 2002- was my day of competition. I woke around 8am after having a good night’s sleep for a nice change. Mentally I felt good. Physically I didn’t feel too bad. No aches and pains, just a few bruises (I had no idea where they had come from) – that was another thing I found about dropping weight, I seemed to bruise easily. I checked my weight and already weighed 53.1kg. Beautiful. By 10am I was 53kg. I had a shower, shaved my legs and armpits, washed my hair and used the whole building’s supply of hot water. I didn’t care today. I’m usually more considerate, but today was my day!
Once Seen Lee and I were ready to leave, Yourik came with us on the walk through the village to the bus, which was to take us to the competition venue. It wasn’t a long walk but we gladly accepted his offer to carry our gym bags. Though, he was chattering away non-stop about his gold medals and how much media interest and publicity he was getting. It was making me really nervous and anxious. So, I was a little relieved when he left us at the bus stop as we got on the bus. On the way to the weightlifting venue, I listened to some music though my headphones to help settle my nerves.
Once we got to the competition venue, the G-Mex and MICC (Manchester International Convention Centre), I checked my weight. To my relief, I was under. You never know if test scales in the village were accurate, exactly the same as the competition scales. Every gram counted. This was the first time I managed to make weight at 53kg without having to sauna! As soon as I weighed in, Steve T whisked me off to a nearby pub where a room had been hired for me upstairs so I could rest and rehydrate for a couple of hours. Then at 2.15pm we all made our way back to the venue to start warming up.
In the warm up room there were a few hiccups with regard to the organization of the competition but it didn’t really affect me other than that I could hear a bit of commotion going on with some of the coaches getting agitated and voices rising. It was about putting the 53’s and 58’s on together in the same session. They couldn’t decide the order, whether we would all lift together or whether the 53’s would all lift first, then the 58’s separately. Then when they decided we would lift separately they kept changing their mind about whether there would be a 10 minute break in between the 53’s snatches and the 58’s snatches. It didn’t really affect me, as being in the 53’s I was first up anyway, but I felt glad I wasn’t in the 58’s, as it affected how much time they had to warm up. Some of the coaches were getting really stroppy, complaining and questioning whether the IWF competition rules were being followed. I thought it was pretty poor to be arguing about this at this late stage, at a Commonwealth Games. It should have been sorted out in the planning stages months ago!
In the audience was my mum, dad and step-mother who had all travelled from Australia to support me. My English based family (grandmother, uncle and dad’s cousins) were also all there, having travelled from different parts of England, as well as Steve’s family from Dorset. I knew Channel 7 was showing the session live in Australia and although it was the middle of the night in Australia, all my friends were staying up to watch. Whilst it meant a lot to know I had everyone’s support, it wasn’t in my mind. I just knew I had a job to do.
Even though I had experience lifting at major competition being coached by other national coaches, it was a huge relief having my personal coaches (Luke Borreggine and Steve Tikkanen) in the warm up room as my coaches for this competition – they knew me better than any other coach, and had been with me every step of the way over the past four years. So I had full trust in any decision they would have to make. Because we had two Australians competing, we were allowed four coaches in the warm up room so we also had Marty Leech and Sevi Marinov with us. Obviously the goal was for both Seen and I to perform at our best and both come away with medals. They agreed to split roles, counting the board, watching our warm up attempts and watching the competitors, etc. Steve and Luke had always worked so well coaching together, they could read each others minds. As they knew me best, they looked after me through the competition. Marty, Sevi and Seen were all from the same club at Hawthorn in Victoria, so naturally they all worked together. Luke was head coach, so he was ultimately responsible for everyone and I knew there would be no favouritism towards me and both Seen and I would be given every opportunity to perform to the best of our ability. Just like when I was competing years earlier against Meagan, Luke was fair to us both. There were no games being played.
I suffered the usual ‘first lift’ nerves and had a shaky start with my first snatch attempt on 75kg. I caught it too far in front and tried to stumble forward to save the lift before realising it was no use. So I dropped the weight – doing so, the bar rolled/bounced forward to the front of the stage and I thought for a second I was going to kill the centre referee, as it looked like it was going to bounce off the stage into her lap. Her face was priceless. Thank goodness for the safety rails at the front of the platform! All along the importance of getting my first lift was stressed to me and I think I put so much pressure on myself, combined with a little unavoidable nerves, that I rushed it.
Fortunately I was successful with 75kg on my 2nd attempt, which felt really easy and put me in 2nd position. Just like the 2000 Olympics, after getting the second lift, rather than celebrating, I was annoyed with myself that I had wasted an attempt beforehand (even though I knew it meant a medal, although we weren’t sure which colour at that point).
Then, unexpectedly, Seen Lee pulled an amazing 75kg out of the bag on her 3rd lift, putting her in second position ahead of me, due to her lighter body weight. It was a great lift with a lot of fight and well done to her but gees – I had dedicated so much to this event and here she was about to grab the silver medal off me.
For my third attempt, if it wasn’t a competition & had been up to me, I would have called for 80kg, but the coaches were in charge of the tactics and had to select 77.5kg to play it safe to secure the silver medal. If we’d gambled and taken 80kg and if I missed it, it would have meant I’d come away with bronze. 77.5kg was the right call. I was so determined to get back in the lead I really went for it – and I got it! Although I was happy about winning the silver I was still a little disappointed with myself, as I had wanted to lift more than 77.5kg. However, the Gold medallist from India was very strong, lifting 82.5kg with a lighter bodyweight and looking like she had some more in reserve. So even if I had lifted more, I think, no, I know, the result would have still been the same as far as medals go.
You can watch the 53kg medal snatches here (you have to watch to the very end for my 3rd snatch as they went to an ad break and missed it live but they show it at the end as a highlight).
I was feeling pretty tired after the snatches and lay down on the platform to rest with my feet up on a chair. I was still upset about my snatch and missing that first attempt. It was an equal PB but I had wanted at least 80kg or 82.5kg, which I should have been good for considering all the hard work I had done with snatches in training this year. But I knew I had to forget it now and concentrate on the clean and jerks. A camera came around and I realised I was being filmed (it was shown live on TV in Australia) so I quickly got up, not wanting to show Australia how knackered I was. I tried to eat a little as I knew we had lots of time but I couldn’t force much down. As I got up I realised I had chipped a nail so I started filing it and then realised that channel 7 again had their cameras on me. I started giggling and feeling very shy, I finally managed a wave for the camera and a “thumbs up” signal. They were apparently showing it out on the big screen to the audience, but they hadn’t seen me filing my nail (thank goodness). See why I was called princess?
During the warm up for the Clean and Jerk I started to feel really flat and found it difficult to catch my breath. By the time I came out onto the platform for my first attempt, 87.5 kg felt, and looked, very hard. Seen wasn’t as strong as me in the Clean & Jerk but again she performed above expectations, getting 87.5kg on her last attempt. This meant for my 2nd attempt I needed to take 90kg to secure the silver medal. I did – and although it was a heavier weight it actually felt easier than my first attempt. I think the crowd atmosphere lifted me a bit! Plus the threat of my Australian team-mate Seen Lee breathing down my neck in bronze medal position helped. There was no way I was going to be beaten by her when I had given up so much that year to put myself in medal contention.
The coaches selected a weight for my third attempt, then we sat back knowing I had the silver medal and waited to see what the Indian competitor, Sanamancha Chanu, would do… She started on 95kg – and it looked easy! It looked like she would be able to go a lot heavier and I was out of the competition with her so it was decided that I would go for 97.5kg for my last attempt. We were then surprised when Chanu came out next to do 97.5kg and for a moment we thought I might actually have a chance at the Gold! Quickly backstage the coaches tried to change my attempt up to 100kg but it was too late. Under the rules you are only allowed to make 2 changes with calling the weight for your next attempt. I was forced to go out on 97.5kg after Chanu had already completed it. I knew it meant no change to my silver medal placing and I knew it would be hard. I had never taken a 7.5 kg jump on a weight that close to my PB but I was determined to do it. I also knew it would mean 2 new Australian records and a new Total – which would at least make up for the snatch – and it would show that I could be competitive with the Gold medallist. As I approached the bar and focussed myself I could still hear the commotion in the background as it looked like a mistake had been made and the coaches were still trying to change my attempt up to 100kg. As I stood over the bar, I could hear someone saying “stop the clock” to the marshals on the technical desk through their headsets, but since the MC wasn’t confirming it I knew I had to go. So I set myself and I gave it everything I had. The clean was hard but I grunted it up. Then I had to jerk it. My jerk had been inconsistent lately but I drove it up as hard as I could and I was successful! I felt so elated and I wanted to jump for joy but I could barely remain on my feet, as my legs were completely shot!! The outcome of the silver medal 97.5kg Clean & Jerk meant I also won the silver medal with my Total of 175kg.
As I walked off the competition platform my legs started to buckle under me and when I got back to the warm up room I had to lie down on the platform where I had been warming up. My whole body felt like it was shutting down. I was physically shaking. I felt like I couldn’t even lift myself up to sit up, and yet the coaches were still arguing with the technical officials about whether I should get another attempt. As much as I would have liked a crack at 100kg I really don’t think I could have done it. I had absolutely nothing left in the tank. I tried to hold back tears, my eyes welling up as I realised it was over. Sevi Marinov (Australian assistant coach) came and sat down next to me and asked me if I was all right, and if I was in pain. I felt too embarrassed to admit I was just emotional about the whole experience and I felt completely exhausted. I was teary because I was happy I had won silver medals, but sad I had not won gold, and sad it was all over – all I had been aiming and training for.
Watch the Clean & Jerks here
As the 58’s were still lifting I had some time to recover and compose myself before the medal ceremony. The medal ceremony was another new (and emotional) experience for me. I had obviously never won a medal at a competition of this scale before or at one where flag raising was involved. I actually felt more nervous about this as I lined up to go on stage, than I had felt about the competition! I mentioned this to Mike Whitney from Channel 7 as he interviewed me while we were waiting to go on stage.
During the medal ceremony, I felt really proud when I received my medals. The moment was perhaps made even more special because I was awarded the medals by Sam Coffa, AWF President, Australian Commonwealth Games Association President and IWF Vice President. I was always fond of Sam, especially after he looked after me that day in Melbourne at our training camp, driving me to see his doctor when I was sick. He was really proud to see two Australians up there on the podium. The highlight for me was when I saw the flags raised. I looked up and saw the Australian flags and thought “wow, one of those is up there for me”! I felt super proud then and while I am not usually an emotional person, tears came to my eyes as I reflected on all the hard work I had done in order to achieve this moment.
After the competition I was called up for drug testing. Poor Sevi must have drawn the short straw, as he stayed with me as my chaperone. I say “poor Sevi” because I was so dehydrated that it took me ages before I could produce a sample and then when I did it was too weak for analysis, so I had to wait and try again. Eventually I managed another sample, but it felt like hours had gone by. Fortunately all my family who had come to watch me compete were all still waiting patiently outside for me.
Afterwards I went with my family and friends to the local pub for a drink. I didn’t want to take my medals off and they were clanging around my neck making quite a noise, but it felt so good to have them on. Steve (always practical) was worried they would chip or dent and suggested I take them off but I said no way! After the pub we were standing waiting for a taxi when a channel 9 television crew stumbled upon us and asked for an impromptu interview after seeing me with my medals around my neck. Next we went to the Blue Roo Club at the Renainssance Hotel (a club set up with its own currency for Australian athletes to meet, drink and socialise with their family and friends). Luke, Steve T, Mehmet and Rob Mitchell came later (by which time I was quite inebriated). Seen Lee also turned up with her boyfriend and we got our photo taken with Steve Bracks (Victorian premier), as well as Sam Coffa and the Mermet (Hawthorn weightlifting) stadium sponsor, Gordon. There was a board up recording every medal won by Australia and I felt really proud as we watched them put my 3 silver medals on the board and we continued celebrations into the night. Actually I only lasted until midnight – I was completely shattered and just running on pure adrenalin by then.
Coming up next – Chapter 25: Enjoying the rest of the Commonwealth Games