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COMPETING ON THE WORLD STAGE AT THE OLYMPICS ‘I think it has been really important for me to reflect on my season as a whole and see even making it to the start line as something to be proud of.’
In July this year, Fintona’s Running Coach and Old Fintonian, Georgia Griffith (’14) competed at the Tokyo Olympics in the 1500 metres event. Whilst her time did not qualify her for the finals, the entire Fintona community was cheering her on and was very proud of her selection in the Australian Olympic Team. With so much uncertainty in the world, Georgia said it was a challenge to stay focused and positive in the lead up. Georgia worked through this by directing her focus onto the things she knew she could control such as training and rehabilitation. Georgia had suffered quite a few injuries so there were big question marks when qualifying for Tokyo, and then later even making it to the start line.
Fintona File | Spring / Summer 2021
‘After a nervous week waiting to find out if I would be on the Olympic team, getting the confirmation was an absolute dream come true. My dad had very kindly kept me company that day and it was great to be able to share that excitement with him. I was honestly over the moon and couldn’t keep the smile off my face for weeks,’ said Georgia.
The biggest impact COVID had on Georgia’s Olympic experience was not having her family, partner, coach, or friends present. ‘It honestly felt like such a team effort in getting to the start line, so it did feel different not having any of them physically present to share this moment. But I knew they were all watching and cheering me on back home so I took comfort in that,’ said Georgia. The Australian Olympic Committee recommended that interactions with other countries’ competitors were kept to a minimum at the Olympics. This meant no mingling at the dining hall; however, Georgia said that you could still interact outside in the village and sometimes on the transport buses with competitors from other countries. Despite restrictions, she was, however, somewhat pleasantly surprised that the lead up to the race and the race itself, felt quite similar to previous international competitions.
