Aussies run out of Olympic puff

Notably absent will be double 400-metres world champion and reigning Olympic champion Cathy Freeman, the bubbly Aborigine whose win provided the leitmotif for the “best ever” Games in the harbour city in 2000. Australia will at least have sharpshooter Michael Diamond on board, whose training for Athens was interrupted by a court case brought against him by a former girlfriend. The shooting dual gold medallist from Sydney, though cleared of assault charges, missed the selection trials and only had is participation in Athens confirmed by the Australian Olympic Committee at the end of June.

Not so lucky is glamour girl Tatiana Grigorieva, silver medalist in the pole vault at the Sydney Olympics, who along with husband Viktor Chistiakov, missed out on selection.

Joshua Ross was selected in the 100m, relegating Australia’s fastest man Patrick Johnson to the relay team.

John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), reports that Australia will be represented in 27 of the 28 Olympic disciplines.

He predicts that, with the backing of 123 coaches, 68 medical staff and 89 administrators, the green and gold will come in fifth behind Russia, the United States, China and Germany. In Sydney, Australia finished in front of Germany.

As in previous Games, more than half of Australia’s medals should come from either the cycling track or the swimming pool.

Australia’s swimming team is bettered only by that from the United States. But a lot will be riding on the performance of Ian Thorpe, who looks set to contest the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres freestyle as well as the relays. He could come away with five gold medals. Grant Hackett looks unstoppable in the 1,500 metres.

This time around, the torch-bearers for Australian swimming will include a host of women. The squad includes Libby Lenton, who in April became the first Australian woman to hold the world 100-metres freestyle mark since Shane Gould over 30 years ago.

Lenton clocked 53.66 seconds, shaving just over a tenth of a second off Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn’s time set in the same pool at the Sydney Games four years ago.

Australian Sports Commission (ASC) chief executive Mark Peters predicts Australia could win 44 medals in Athens, 14 fewer than in Sydney. He expects Benita Johnson, winner of this year’s world cross-country championships, to see off a host of African runners and become the first Australian woman to win a long-distance running event at the Olympics.

Johnson, 24, after coming first in a field of 100 in Brussels in March, said: “It gives me a lot of confidence going into Athens. I really do believe I can get a medal there in the 10,000 metres”.

The ASC is the government-funded sports agency while the AOC is responsible for picking and sending the Olympic teams. The two bodies have been brawling lately, much to the chagrin of athletes.

According to Peters, the AOC “is only involved with elite sport in Australia for two short periods in every four-year Olympic cycle and does not have a full understanding of the issues and problems facing sport at all levels of society”.

The AOC’s Coates shot back: “Instead of the negativity coming out against the ASC in Canberra, the Australian public should be encouraged by the results and the talent pool we have across all our sports”.

The argy-bargy is not helping raise the morale of a 2004 team that fully expects to underperform when compare with its millenial equivalent.

(gms/dpa)