Mathews talks highs and lows of rollercoaster 2016

As he works backs to fitness during a month-long altitude training camp at Falls Creek, rising middle distance star Luke Mathews (Vic) has only taken inspiration from a breakout season that ended in bitter disappointment.

With the upcoming Nitro Athletics and other 2017 assignments including the world championships ahead, the 21-year-old is well into his return from a well-deserved break following a Rio Olympic campaign that unfortunately did not mirror the world-class performances he dished up in the first half of the year.

“2016 was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster,” said Mathews who is in the middle of another 150-kilometre training week atop the mountain.

“I kind of saw the absolute highs of the sport and I saw the complete lows of the sport.

“So, if I split the season up into domestic and international – the domestic season was awesome, it was something new to me winning races.”

Upon revision, 2016 was on the whole very successful for Mathews who brought his personal bests in the 800m and 1500m down to 1:45.16 and 3:35.99 respectively.

Those times, along with his first national title in the 800m, qualified him for both events at the Olympic Games in Rio, from which he was unable to progress from the heats after a busy schedule of racing.

Well, that certainly wasn't the way I predicted my Olympics to end. Unfortunately, this roller coaster ride ran out of steam a few months ago, resulting in some embarrassing performances on the biggest stage of my life: when I stepped foot on the accelerator, I had nothing. That being said, some average runs can't take away the fact that this has been an amazing season as my first proper year as a professional athlete. I'll be back for London next year. To all the armchair critics, I hope you enjoy your lovely winters day of work. I'm about to jump into the Copacabana beach, after travelling the world for the last 5 months. A big team of people got me here, but no one must be thanked more than @melbtrackclub (Nic Bideau - my coach) who took me from a fat, chubby 1:48/3:43 man, to a 1:45/3:35 guy who won the national championships and represented Australia in two events. He has changed my life, and I look forward to working with you until I retire from this sport. To all those on my side, I look forward to seeing you all soon on Australian soil. 🇧🇷🏃🏻

A photo posted by Luke Mathews (@lukemathews) on Aug 16, 2016 at 1:30pm PDT

“I was beating people I had always looked up to, I was able to qualify for (the Olympics) in the 800m and pushed David Rudisha to the line at the Melbourne World Challenge,” Mathews added.

“I won my first open championship – so up until I qualified for the 1500m as well in mid-May I think my body just started to get a little bit tired and my racing in Europe started to falter a little bit.

“I worked my body to a new level that it’s never seen before and ended up getting pretty tired so that’s why at the Olympics I wasn’t able to run as well as I would’ve liked.

“You know it was a bit flattening but I still think that 2016 was a successful year.”

Mathews eventually sees himself as a genuine 1500m runner but would still like to see how close he can get to Ralph Doubell and Alex Rowe’s national 800m record of 1:44.40.

Despite becoming an Olympian for the first time and taking it up to Olympic champion and 800m world record holder David Rudisha in his home city the two most poignant moments in 2016 for Mathews spawned from unlikely races.

“Racing in Melbourne against Rudisha was something else,” he said.

“It was awesome because it was my home crowd, my whole family was there and all my friends were there.

“Nationals was something new as well because it was my first ever championship win.

I'M GOING TO THE RIO OLYMPICS!!!!! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

A photo posted by Luke Mathews (@lukemathews) on Apr 2, 2016 at 3:06am PDT

“But the two really big things for me was the Hunter Track Classic, probably because I went from a lane-filler to someone who was a contender and could make the Olympic team and a serious Australian athlete.

“So, that was massive for me, but also another thing that was big for 2016 would have to be seeing Ryan Gregson make the 1500m final (in Rio).

“Ryan, even though he’s become one of my best mates now and he’s my training partner and we do just about everything together, I’ve looked up to that guy ever since I was about eleven years old.

“To see him go through the highs of running 3:31 in 2010 to having injury after injury after injury – to then making the Olympic final and being up there with Matt Centrowitz (USA) and Nick Willis (NZL).

“It was great for me, just to see, and there’s a lot of optimism in middle distance running in Australia.

“Honestly, I was probably more nervous watching Ryan Gregson’s 1500m final than my 800m and 1500m heats in Rio.”

Looking towards the Australian domestic season and the 2017 World Championships in London the goal is to better his results in Rio, which will likely start with an outing on the track at the Nitro Athletics series in Melbourne.

Mathews and a number of his Melbourne Track Club teammates have been selected in the Team Australia squad for the series that will take place in early February at Lakeside Stadium.

“I’m looking forward to Nitro but I’m not really sure what to expect because it’s something new,” Mathews explained.

“The Australian domestic season has always been like a tour-based event and this is kind of something that no one has ever seen before.

“I’ll get to race against some people I wouldn’t normal get to race against, and also it’s just going to be great watching Usain Bolt come to Australia.

“I watched him at the Olympics and at world relays – but when you go to Albert Park it will feel like we’ll be able to touch the guy and see the guy.”

Picture: @lukemathews (instagram)