Australia’s big guns perform while foot soldiers fall short at Delhi CWG
Australian athletes were simply marvellous at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games as the country clinched the highest number of medals, outdoing all other teams. However, things were not that rosy for the Aussies in the athletics event as Kenya was beyond their
reach.
Out of the 20 total medals bagged by Australian in athletics, 5 were won by elite athletes with disabilities, 3 of which were gold medals. Although the Australian head coach looked rather content with the performance of his team at the end of the event,
the holistic picture for Australia was bleak. Despite winning the highest number of medals, it was the lowest number in last 35 years.
Hollingsworth, the head coach of team Australia, while explaining the reasons of a comparatively “not so good” performance, said that many of Australia's top athletes and players had stepped back and the country did not have any choice except to work on
the new players to move the country to the next rank. He further said that despite below par performances, Australia dominated the medals table and that was not a menial achievement either. However, he also admitted that rather than concluding with 20, Hollingsworth
was expecting at least 25 medals in athletics.
The head coach did claim that the encouraging point about Australia’s athletics contingent was their ability to convert performances into gold medals. Out of the 20 medals won by the Aussies, 11 were gold which was is a commendable conversion rate. He added
that the gist of the games was to win gold medals, rather than to just dwell upon the total number of medals won. While complementing his athletes, Hollingsworth said that Harra Dine, Steve Hooker, Fabrice Lapierre, Sally Pearson and Jarred Tallent completely
justified the pre-event favouritism. “Had Pearson not shown over-eagerness at the starting blocks, he too could have easily crowned her 100m hurdles race title,” lamented the head coach.
For Australia, another impressive success in the event was that of its men’s 4x400 m relay team that claimed a second consecutive gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The Aussies have already won a silver medal at the Athens Olympics and a bronze medal
at the World Championship in 2009.
Complementing his men’s relay squad, Hollingsworth said that his team was becoming more and more dominant in its approach. According to him, it could have been an easy competition for his runners had they felt satisfied with a silver or bronze. However,
their thirst for gold was simply unmatched.
On the contrary, the situation at the hammer throws was completely different as 5 Australian athletes could not claim even a single medal. Moreover, high jumper Ellen Pettitt and Liam Zamel-Paez won no medal either. The African athletes on the other hand
consistently blew away the Australian runners.
While expressing his concerns over the runners, the head coach said that his team had to work on their weaknesses. Hollingsworth said that he had been constantly dwelling upon the reasons which had contributed to the below par performances of his runners.
Hollingsworth further said that he was trying to develop a training strategy which would help his runners compete against African athletes in a better way.
The head coach was happy with the fact that his guys had the mentality which was necessary to form a winning combination. He expressed his complete confidence over the ability of his athletes that are high on confidence.
While giving his final remarks, the head coach said that the absence of stars like Dani Samuels, Mitchell Watt, Tristan Thomas and Ryan Gregson had robbed Australian contingent of several medals. While answering to a question whether Australia might not
bag 41 athletics medals in the future, Hollingsworth claimed that competitions at home were usually far different from those played abroad - the environment is different, no home support, and many other factors which have to be dealt with.
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