Gregsons Back on Track for Great Mate Maurie | Maurie Plant Meet

For Ryan and Genevieve Gregson, tonight’s Maurie Plant Meet is personal. The Olympic lovers are set to race in honour of their eternal friend as they return to the track, with Gregson on their bibs but Plant in their hearts.

Racing at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet named after their former manager who fostered their legacy from local talents to international stars, the Gregsons arrive in Melbourne amidst the star-studded cast assembled to return the favour to Plant three years after his premature passing.

“The showing of world-class athletes is a credit to the meet and the Maurie Plant name. He did so much work for younger athletes who ran great in Australia and didn’t know what the next move was. He was that link between the athlete, their coach and the big world,” Ryan said.

“Maurie was one of us, he would come down to training on a Tuesday morning and that would make his week. He was such a close friend and where I appreciated him the most was when you would have a few bad races in a row in Europe because it does get pretty lonely, but he had a knack for keeping things light and fun. It’s certainly not the same without him.”

The sentiments were echoed by Genevieve who travelled to every corner of the world in companionship with Plant, but declared home in Melbourne as a fitting location for the meet held in his honour:

“Melbourne just reminds me of Maurie, especially Lakeside. I feel like I can still hear his booming voice from when he used to commentate. We are hoping to get the track season rolling, my body is feeling better than ever.”

The Olympic duo have been absent from the track since 2021 with various injuries and the arrival of their baby Archer, but Ryan was quick to assert that tonight’s John Landy Mile and Women’s 3000m respectively are far from victory laps – determined to build on their decorated careers.

“I don’t know exactly what my future will entail event-wise, but I just know that my body is in a position where I can be really good again. We are desperate to be competitive and it’s only natural to write off Gen after a baby and double Achilles, and a bloke in his 30’s who didn’t strike a blow last year, but you can’t switch the mind off,” Ryan said.

Shattering the sub-four-minute mile barrier a stunning 27 times in his career, Ryan will chase number 28 tonight as he winds back the clock in the John Landy Mile, but at 32-years-old – he is not racing to merely fill a lane before returning to the track and field wilderness.

“My immediate goals are to run under four minutes and to be competitive. I honestly don’t care what distance it is; I have been too far out of the sport that I am hungry to just be a competitor again.

“I had a pretty serious foot injury and missed six months of running. It was fat and I couldn’t put a pair of spikes on and it was hard to get around a track, that’s why I considered going to the roads. Eventually I would like to run on the roads because I want to experience everything that this sport has to offer, who wouldn’t?”

Back at full health and joining a world-class field featuring Rio Olympic 1500m champion Matthew Centrowitz, Commonwealth 1500m champion Oliver Hoare, Paralympic medallist Jaryd Clifford and rising star Cameron Myers – Ryan is one of many athletes chasing his own story in tonight’s John Landy Mile:

“Centrowitz and I are in a similar position right now, neither of us struck a blow in 2022. There are no cheat codes when you are older, you might be training well but it takes a few races to get that race fitness back and to be at your best.”

Genevieve will race the 3000m at her official return to the track, taking on a field of Australian and international stars.

Full start lists can be found HERE, while tickets can be purchased HERE.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 23/2/2022