Setembro 10, 2008
Olympic Bronze
I’ll start with a competition, TVNZ and Mitsubishi are giving away a car to an Olympian and one voter in the competition, so if you want to win a car and try and win me one too, you can go to the following link and vote before midday Sunday (tomorrow NZ time) http://olympicoutlander.tvnz.co.nz/
Now back to the real business the race, I last wrote to you on Friday when I was starting to feel better again and had managed to eat and put on some weight again. I was pretty confident about being back to 100% by Saturday but then again overnight had yet another relapse, lost all the weight I had gained and woke again to a sore stomach frequent visits to the toilet. Eating was again a struggle although I justified it too myself that the others would also be struggling to eat due to nerves. Going into the Olympics I had planned to race similar to what I did in Poznan, take the lead early and try and fight off any attacks. The reason for this is I feel I deal with a fast paced race better than the others and will quite often row the sprint out of the others like I did to Synek in Poznan.
After the Semi and feeling the way I did, I decided it was a better option to change my race plan to be conservative in the first half, save some energy then win the race in the second half. Very much like Munich last year, that way I thought I was less likely to hit the great wall like I did in the semi. The start wasn’t the best as there was a lot of weed around my lane and I was trying to explain to them I wanted it cleared, before I knew what was happening the race had started and I lost a little bit of ground. As I got into my rhythm I was feeling good and the boat was moving along nicely. It was starting to feel like a repeat of Munich with Alan and Tufte out in front and Synek just in behind me. By the time we approached the 1000M I was in good position and feeling very good. Don Rowlands had sent me a Mohammad Ali quote “The will must be greater than the skill.” Mohammad Ali is someone I have always admired and the Rumble in the Jungle fight something I often watch for inspiration. I decided this was the Olympic final, I had got myself in the best shape I possibly could and I was going to go out use my will and race to win.
As I passed Alan I put in a big move, by the time I came out in front of him the others hadn’t realised I was moving and I soon moved through to take the lead, I was still rowing well and feeling good. I couldn’t believe it but I was just rowing away from the field, I had a length and was still moving away. I got to 500M to go and was confident of holding on as I still felt good, Tufte and Synek now made a move to try and come back, Synek was closing the gap but still quite a distance behind, I was holding them both off. 250M to go I was starting to struggle but with my lead was confident I could hold them off, we were going passed the last stands probably into about the last 150M I was still in front, I went to take the next stroke and suddenly my legs gave way, I had no push and my body was failing me, I tried to put in strokes but the rating was dropping and there was no more to give. I could only watch as Tufte and then Synek both rowed through me, I don’t remember much of the last 100M and just remember finishing and looking up to see I had held on for Bronze which was a huge relief.
In rowing you learn about your body and pacing yourself, ideally you want to cross the line in a big final and only have maybe one stroke more you could take, until the semi and final I have always achieved this but both these races I took that last stroke about 150M before the line. Tufte and Synek both had exceptional races and managed to always be in touch so that when I blew they could strike and beat me. I hate showing any signs of fatigue after the race as it’s a sign of weakness to your competitors. This unfortunately wasn’t my greatest week, I had thrown up on Monday in front of Tufte on the warm down lake, Wednesday I just made it to the pontoon and had to pretty much run to our warm down room to throw up (so no one would see).
Saturday I was incapable of even rowing a stroke after the finish, I sat there bent over trying to recover, it wasn’t happening and thankfully the rescue boat was soon there to help. After nearly falling out I decided it was safer in their boat and just managed to get in, before hanging over the side and dry wrenching. When your in that state all you want to do is be away from everyone so no one can see you, so they took me to the last place I wanted to be, the media pontoon. With the worlds camera’s and journalists on hand pretty much my whole recovery after the race was documented which I have to say was pretty embarrassing. I spent some time on the pontoon before being stretchered off to the medical tent, I wasn’t too sure what was going on but I had doctors and support staff everywhere covering me with ice and talking about my condition. What I do remember is them saying I was going on an IV and couldn’t go to the medal ceremony. That was when I tried to tell them I was fine and I could sit up and go to the ceremony. As they helped me sit in a chair I started shaking uncontrollably and next minute had fallen off the chair and was back to laying on the ground being fed Oxygen. There was never any question about making the ceremony, even if I had to be stretchered over I was going to be there. The reasons for this were, I wanted to acknowledge the achievements of Tufte and Synek, two cause an Olympic medal ceremony is a very special occasion and three cause I didn’t want to be like Hacker in 2006. Again I set my mind to trying to control my body and about 30minutes after our race had finished I finally managed to sit up and be walked by Andrew and Chris toward the medal dais, still a little bit out of it. By the time I got there I was well enough to walk onto the dais unassisted and was close to tears when both Tufte and Synek walked over to me give me a hug and check I was OK. It was awesome to receive my medal and the whole ceremony just seemed to flash by. We did however lift Tufte onto our shoulders at the end although I was struggling and we ended up going sideways for a while until I managed to get my body under control and stand still.
I have since been asked by the media would I have won had I not got sick. All I can say is I have no excuses, I raced as well as I could, I pushed my body beyond its limits and there were two guys that went faster than me in the Olympic Final, full credit to them as they both performed better than me when it counted most. I have always said the Olympics are so hard to win as there is 1 day in four years when you have to be prepared and have to race the best you can, when you start that final you are level and every past result is forgotten. I got sick during the week, that was out of my control but its makes no difference, I still knew I had to perform on Saturday the 16th August, you cant call in sick for the final and do it the next day. I always wanted gold and knew I was capable of winning but I did everything I could and raced the best I could in that final, in that respect I am very proud of my bronze. This experience has certainly given me even more appreciation of what an Olympic Gold medal means and has made me even more hungry to come back and have another go in London 2012.
The twins had a fantastic race to win gold in the woman’s double in a very exciting photo finish, the men’s pair won a bronze to make it New Zealand’s most successful day in rowing at an Olympics. Later that evening Valerie Vili won gold and Hayden Roulston Silver to make it New Zealand’s single best day at an Olympics. So far we have a total of 9 medals, making it one of our most successful Olympic teams overall. Something I am proud to be associated with as team captain and something I predicted could happen at the time I was appointed.
Since the racing has finished we have had a few nights out, watched a lot of events (I have seen 6 of 9 medals won live) with the highlight for me so far being Nick Willis run. The venues are so good and amazing to be at. The last few days I have been spending most of my time in bed as I have got sick again, this time a pretty nasty fever with high temperatures, coughing and muscle aches. Unfortunately I cant take too much sympathy as I haven’t exactly looked after myself since finishing racing and have certainly pushed my body beyond its limits (but this time not with exercise).
We are back in NZ Wednesday and will try and get an email out around then to let you know about the rest of the Olympics.
Mahe
