Athletics In The Sun

[Guest Tim]

ATHLETICS IN THE SUN

 

The British Olympic Association’s decision to choose Queensland’s Gold Coast as its Sydney 2000 Olympics training base was, in the end, easy.

 

The weather (balmy, sparkling sunshine), the location (white beaches, blue seas) and the people (professional, enthusiastic and passionate about sport) fitted together to make a formidable package and won - despite an 11th.hour bid by Victoria’s Premier, Jeff Kennett, pleading the case for his state.

 

"Don’t sign anything until you’ve visited us," the Premier said in an urgent letter delivered through the British Consul-General. Quipped Gold Coast Mayor, Gary Baildon, Victoria’s main rival in its quest for tourists: ‘On this one I’d have to say "Jeff Kennett - zero, Gary Baildon - one."’ He described the decision for the Gold Coast as "the biggest piece of Olympics-related sports business outside Sydney between now and the Olympic Games." He offered the team free use of the city’s seven Olympic-sized pools, along with help with transport, office equipment and $100,000 in cash or kind.

 

Queensland’s former rugby playing Sports Minister, Mr.Mick Veivers, hinted that the British coup would mean extra spending on new sports projects, including the possibility of a $10 m. aquatic centre. ‘This isn’t just for the British,’ he said. ‘Any money we as a government spends on better sports facilities will help our own athletes later on.’

 

The man behind the scenes in the decision was Mick Aitken, Wigan-born and CEO of MJA Matchpoint, which investigated the coast and convinced BOA officials not to go to Mexico, Japan, Indonesia, Sydney ("it would have been bedlam to train there") or Melbourne. BOA signed up at a meeting with Mr. Aitken in Wimbledon a year ago to be principal client for his Brisbane-based company charged with the vital job of assessment.

 

‘My job,’ he said, ‘was to examine the options of bringing the British athletes out here, negotiate the arrangements and make sure it would all work. With previous experience as CEO of the Queensland Events Corporation I had been involved with surf titles, big golf classics and many other sporting events on the coast. There is no better site with such a breadth of choice for a training camp.’

 

About 250 British athletes from 10 sports will train on the Gold Coast for a fortnight. Then they will return for the major acclimatisation and final training camp in August-September, involving a total of 600 athletes and officials from 20 sporting codes, accompanied by 300 British journalists. The Gold Coast City Council, which had to convince Mick they could handle the influx of athletes, expects a windfall in return of some $10m. for the city which will need to have available 26,000 bed nights.

 

Says Mick Aitken: ‘We had to look at facilities like training venues and their proximity to one another and where the accommodation might be. A critical aspect was to be the people involved.

 

‘You have to have trust in the people and faith in their professionalism; and you want them to share the enthusiasm and passion that you’ve got for what you are doing. The weather on the Gold Coast will be absolutely brilliant. Pre-Olympic training in Sydney would be an absolute nightmare; bedlam. After excluding Sydney, Queensland was absolutely the best option. We met the Gold Coast City Council and their senior staff and they said they would make sure the Brits would be really welcome; that nothing would be too difficult or too much trouble in order to help them in their task.’

 

Then, two days before the final announcement, the Kennett official letter arrived. ‘In essence it said: "Please, whatever you do, don’t make any decision about where you are going to base your camp until you have visited us." ‘We knew what Victoria had to offer,’ said Aitken. ‘But one thing money can’t buy is climate and natural resources.’ Mr. Simon Clegg, BOA general secretary, replied to the Premier that his organisation was convinced the Gold Coast was the right place to be.

 

Only the British equestrian and yachting teams are to train in Sydney. The British Paralympics team of 350 is also heading for the Gold Coast.

 

Said Mick Aitken: ‘On the day the BOA made its announcement its officials went for lunch on the small Kurrawa Surf Lifesaving Club verandah with the Gold Coast’s chief lifeguard, Warren Young. It was 27 deg. The sun sparkled off the blue and green sea, and people were enjoying the beach and the surf rolling in.

 

‘We ate fettuccini, Queensland prawns and barramundi, and salads with avocado, sipping good Australian wine. It was a meal simply cooked in magnificent surroundings. The BOA had been feted wherever it went; but this put the icing on the cake. It was a touch that was uniquely Australian and the officials will go back to Britain feeling they have experienced something special that typifies the country they would love the world to see.’