100 Days to Go!!!

The Olympic Games tipped to be “as good as Sydney” are now just 100 days away. In the quest to go faster, higher and stronger in London, Australia’s top athletes are fine-tuning their routines, pushing their bodies to the limit and battling for Olympic selection ahead of the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

On July 27, 10,500 athletes from over 200 nations will march into the London Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. Wearing the green and gold with pride will be an Australian Team of approximately 400 athletes from almost all of the 38 Olympic disciplines.

There are 77 Australian athletes selected so far from boxing, canoe/kayak-slalom, sailing, swimming, synchronised swimming and taekwondo setting the stage for another successful Australian Olympic campaign.

Team announcements and selection events continue until the end of June, with the “Five Ring Fever” heating up for Australia’s determined athletes.

“Australia is well on the way to fielding a strong Team that will be ready to take on the rest of the world in London this July,” 2012 Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission Nick Green said.

“We know we are in for a tough tussle to claim a revered top five spot with hosts and long-time rivals Britain, the strong European contingent headed by Germany and France, and the ever present Japanese,” Green said of the hunt to finish in the top five on the gold and overall medal tallies.

“But we know, as Aussies, we will never go down without a fight. Our athletes have to continue pushing in these final 100 days to give themselves the best chances of Olympic glory and ensure that we will hear Advance Australia Fair playing throughout the London venues.”

The 34 Olympic venues will come to life with an expected 700,000 visitors to London and over six million public tickets. Destinations such as Wimbledon (tennis), Lord’s Cricket Ground (archery), Horse Guards Parade (beach volleyball) and Hyde Park (triathlon/ open water swimming) complement the eight new venues housed within Olympic Park.

Australia’s medal hopes are spread across a diverse range of sports, and if the recent World Track Cycling Championships in Melbourne are any indication, high drama and late nights will fill the 16 days of Olympic action for Australian sports fans.

“This is going to be a huge Olympic Games and I’m looking forward to the spectacle that the British will certainly put on,” triple-Olympic medallist Anna Meares said.

As the cream of the cycling crop rode in Melbourne, the Aussies showed the world their intentions. Australia medalled in eight of the ten Olympic events with Great Britain medalling in six events – including five gold. On the road and the BMX track the Australians also have plenty of firepower.

Fierce “Ashes” rivalries at the velodrome will be replicated throughout the Games, notably in Greenwich Park – home to equestrian, and the rowing course at Eton Dorney.

In early shows of strength Olympic Champion Matthew Mitcham was back scoring perfect tens at the Olympic Trials ahead of his showdown with Team GB poster-boy and friend Tom Daley. One of Australia’s many darlings of triathlon Erin Densham stormed home to claim gold in the Triathlon World Championship Series opener in Sydney over the weekend.

World Champion gymnast Lauren Mitchell won World Cup gold last week, Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker and former discus World Champion Dani Samuels are returning to good form and Australia’s canoe/kayak and sailing athletes are riding waves of success leading to London.

Hurdler Sally Pearson and freestyle superstar James “The Missile” Magnussen have challenged the world to catch them if they can, and Australia’s Kookaburras have proven equally as untouchable. Australia’s female basketball and water polo teams are among Australia’s strongest medal chances.

In these team sports, Olympic squads will not be finalised until June to ensure teams peak in time for London. But this certainly does not stop athletes from getting excited as the countdown clock ticks away.

“It is starting to get very exciting with only 100 days until what I am sure will be an amazing Olympic Games put on by London,” five-time World Hockey Player of the Year, Jamie Dwyer said.

Dwyer scored the golden goal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, delivering Australia’s first gold medal in the event in 48 years. With the memory of Olympic bronze in Beijing, Dwyer and the Kookaburras have been men on a mission since – winning the World Cup, Commonwealth Games, and a fourth successive Champions Trophy – a feat no men’s team has achieved before.

They travel to London in May for a Test Event to test out London’s iconic blue hockey pitch.

“The Test Event in London will definitely help us get adjusted to the way the field plays, know our surroundings for the Olympics and give us a chance to check out all the facilities,” Dwyer said. “We know it is really getting down to the crunch and our coach reminded us last week that we were only four months away from hopefully playing in the final.”

As we celebrate 100 days to go in Australia, Olympic gold medallists Michael Diamond and Russell Mark lead the Australian contingent into competition at the ISSF Shooting World Cup and Olympic qualifier in London.

Australia’s Olympic contenders have 100 days until the cauldron is lit at the Opening Ceremony. Green, as Chef de Mission, won’t announce the Flagbearer until the night before. What we do know now is that with the form Australian athletes have shown over the past few months, the world has been put on notice that the Aussies are coming.

AOC