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thletics athletics
AUSTRALIA’S HARDEST WORKING MILER
Who would have thought that a middle distance runner that didn’t break two minutes for 800m until he was 17 years old would end up one of Australia’s top 10 fastest 1500m runners of all-time? To say that Jeremy Roff lacked natural talent would be a lie. Talent comes in many forms. Yet it is certainly true that although Roff had some success in his later years of Little Athletics, where his November birthdate was a benefit rather than a hinderance in terms of the age group definitions, there were always athletes who appeared much more naturally gifted than he was. In terms of middle distance running, 1983 was a good vintage, especially within NSW. Throughout the course of his teenage years Roff would have to line up against athletes such as the phenomenally talented world junior finalist Andrew O’Neill, who
held the NSW U18 800m and 1500m records at 1:49.93 and 3:46.34 prior to them being broken by James Kaan and Ryan Gregson; two-time world junior steeplechase representative Luke Taylor; and many others along the way such as former Australian 400m hurdles champion Elliott Wood (1:52 and 4:02 at 16 years of age), Joel Fitzgerald (a national junior 5000m bronze medalist at 16 in a shade over 15 minutes), Tom Richardson, who ran 1:50.1 for 800m at 18, and 4-time Australian 800m champion Nick Bromley, who like Roff, was not a sensational junior and rarely won medals.
Add other ‘83 born runners from interstate of the calibre of Shawn Forrest, Michael Shelley and Clint Perrett and it’s little wonder that at first he found it hard to succeed. Yet, that is perhaps where his real talent shone: in his perservence. “I started out being coached by Anne Saville [mother of racewalking great Jane], who I think did the right thing and nutured me,” said Roff. “I was a late developer and I was only doing about 30km a week until I was 17. I think there are a lot of young kids now who are probably overdoing it and getting injured at young ages.”
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ter 4Roff is a strong suppor son,
of the domestic sea competing regularly during the summer.
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4 The hair might not have been the best move, but he showed great potential in making the ‘06 Commonwealth Games 1500m final.