Solomon out in full force in Canberra

The last time Australian Team Co-captain Steve Solomon took to the track to compete was in February last year at the Canberra Track Classic. Rumours of Covid-19 were swirling but Solomon, like all of our athletes, had his eyes firmly on the prize; qualifying for the Tokyo Games.

While his steely focus has not changed, excitement is brewing for the London 2012 Olympian as he gets ready to make his return to the AIS track for the highly anticipated ACT State Championships; a meet known for its power and speed. 

“It’s an event we’ve been looking forward to very long time now. It’s been about a year since a lot of us competed at the Canberra Track Classic and it’s exciting to be able to pick up at the same track,” Solomon said.

Known for attracting the fastest sprinters from across the country, the ACT State Championships is set to deliver again this year, with Australia’s premiere track and field athletes all set to compete.

“It’s significant because it’s roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, which means the great talent from Sydney come down, and the great talent from Melbourne come up. It hosts nearly every event in the program, so athletes come from all over the country to compete too,” he said.

“Being a fast track as well, the best athletes come together at the start of the season which creates so much excitement for the whole athletics community.

“It’s the launching pad for a lot of us for the domestic season, and this one is going to be a hot one. We’ve seen some great performances already and we’ll no doubt see them this weekend in ACT.”

With an excruciatingly long pre-season coming to a close, the 400m sprinter is feeling more than ready for the season ahead, and importantly, ready to atone for narrowly missing selection for the Rio 2016 Olympics. 

“The preparation for this season has been long, and one of the most difficult things was extending the push that I had been doing so long even before the 2020 Games were postponed. The thing about the last 12 months is that it has tested athletes ability, and their coaches ability to adapt training for different levels, like emotional, physical, and health but for me, they’re where they need to me,” he said.

“I feel I’m in a great spot now to make sure that I use this domestic season to my advantage by taking the opportunity to race when its available, and try race strategy and patterns that I know I’ll be needing to try ahead of the Olympics, and to be able to do that in the comfort of my own home instead of needing to travel overseas, is an opportunity I’m really excited about.”

While Solomon has bunkered down in his home town of Sydney, putting in some his hardest ever training sessions with coach Penny Gillies, he’s grateful to have had access to vital resources to achieve his goal of shaving fractions of a second off his personal best to cement his ticket for Tokyo.

“It’s been a strong pre-season but it’s definitely been a challenging one. I haven’t had to worry about access to resources, but the difficulty has been the length of it,” he said.

“What I’ve learnt that in difficulty is the opportunity to go back and maximise strength levels and fitness levels coming into the season, which we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to last year, and that makes the thought of competing all the more palpable, and I imagine for the whole athletics community too.”

Like a maths equation, Solomon is looking forward to adding up the 1 per centers that he’s worked on and putting them on show this Saturday.

“I like starting the season strong. I have a few race patterns that I’ve been working on with Penny, and it’s just about working out which patterns we pull out depending on the conditions.

“It’s exciting that race day is just days away. I’m looking forward to the nerves, and the routine and the excitement of it all. It’s a big and important part of my Olympic preparation and this is the first opportunity I’ll have in a long time.”

Solomon will compete in the 400m event on Saturday at the ACT State Championships.

By Sascha Ryner
Posted: 8/2/2021