Rower has golden chance
- Glenn McCullough
- 9th August 2008
AUSTRALIAN eights rower Sally Kehoe will tomorrow draw on some good old fashion Toowoomba sporting culture when she begins what she believes is a realistic bid for gold at the Beijing Olympic Games.
Since her first childhood memory of the Olympics when she watched her second cousin Susie O'Neill in 1992 win a bronze medal in the Barcelona pool Kehoe has trod a deliberate and hard-working path towards China.
For Kehoe and her team mates their Olympic wait will be overtaken at 7.20pm tomorrow night by adrenalin and anticipation when the opportunity of winning a gold medal begins in the event heats.
"I believe it is realistic to think we can win the gold medal," Kehoe said..
"I think our performance at the recent World Cup where we won the point's trophy justifies that belief.
"It's there for us to take and I think if we row our best race on any given day we can achieve it.
"We are definitely going for gold."
Kehoe didn't achieve her childhood ambition of becoming an Olympic swimmer but her link to O'Neill and Toowoomba has helped drive her instead to the top of her chosen sport.
"My first memory of the Olympics was as a five-year-old watching Susie O'Neill in Barcelona. "Growing up in Toowoomba had a strong influence on my career as well.
"It's quite a sporting city.
"It has a long tradition in sport which helps foster people.
"I thinks that's a terrific inspiration and I hope Pippa (Savage) and I can do Toowoomba proud."
In an email yesterday to The Chronicle, Kehoe said the Beijing heat was significant.
"Conditions are hot and I think that is the main issue really," Kehoe said.
"But you can get that at other rowing venues in Australia as well.
"The vision is low, however, I believe it is fog and is not troubling even some of our asthmatic athletes, so it is harmless, just not spectator friendly."
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said yesterday he was angered Australian rowers are being forced to travel for an hour in cramped buses with no air-conditioning to their competition venue.
Kehoe said her team was coping with the hurdle.
"Our preparations are going well. We are coping with the bus rides. They are frustrating but you can't do anything about them, so we just deal with them, read a book or meet other athletes," Kehoe said.
"We are all becoming good friends with the Aussie kayakers which has been good because we always train at the same venues but never meet each other."
For more Beijing news, photos and info, check out our special Beijing 2008 guide.
