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Wanted: Australian Olympic hero

By Elliot Williams

Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Bradley Wiggins. These people all have something in common.

When they step up to compete in their various sports, it is almost a certainty that they will be walking away with the gold. And that is a luxury they afford their home nations.

It is a luxury that Australia has sorely missed in Rio, and for quite some time before these Olympics, as well.

Australian sport has not been in such a precarious state for decades.

Our cricketers are currently being bowled silly all over the sub-continent. The Wallabies are still licking their wounds after being embarrassed by England in three tests earlier this year.

Rio presented a golden opportunity to restore some national sporting pride, but aside from a few bright spots there has been an overwhelming sense of disappointment.

While Bolt seemingly jogged to the top of the medal dais and Phelps broke records that stood for over 2000 years, Australians have largely watched and wished.

Australian fans would no doubt have cast their minds back to when we had those once-in-a-generation talents.

When Ian Thorpe dived into the pool you just knew he was climbing out of it with a gold. The same could be said for Grant Hackett in the 1500m, and if he hadn’t been sharing the pool with Thorpe for most of his career, it would have been a few more golds.

Older Australians will remember our original Olympic superstar, Dawn Fraser, who by winning the 100m freestyle at three consecutive Olympic Games displayed a domination that had never before been seen.

The Rio Games have also signalled the end of a career for our most recent world-beater.

Anna Meares made history by becoming the first Australian to win a medal at four Olympic Games, but simultaneously looked like a shadow of her former dominant self.

Everybody loves a surprise Olympic gold medal and it’s heart-warming that Tom Burton and Catherine Skinner have shown this in Rio.

But there is definitely something to be said for certainty and fulfilling expectations, especially as it can often act as a confidence boost for the other athletes.

Swimming has done much of the heavy lifting when it comes to Australia’s Olympic performances.

In the early 2000s we were blessed with a generation of swimmers that may very well be remembered as our greatest ever.

Moving on from them has been difficult to reconcile, as the ‘disasters’ at London and Rio attest.

What is clear, however, is that Australia is in desperate need of its next Olympic hero and the next four years need to be spent finding one.

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