Wroe Represents

Sean Wroe is the picture of calm and has been since he arrived at the Hong Kong University quite a few days ago.

The first of the athletes to arrive, he has been going about his training, study and routine as if it’s just what he does. He likes Hong Kong, the weather suits him, food’s good and, like in Osaka, he just fits in here. There is something about him that says comfortable, confident and ready to go.

His last few months have been good. He’s been racing in Europe and had some strong results, the best coming at the DN Galan in Stockholm where he won the B race in a personal best time of 45.20 and was placed fourth on time overall.

“I was pretty happy with the pb and the win, and putting up the fourth best time on the day was also really cool” he said.

With a much longer and more consistent European campaign under his belt he feels he is better prepared for racing in the rounds of a major championship.

“Overall my European campaign was a lot different to last year. Last year it was kind of short and I was involved in a bus accident which wasn’t great, so this time it was a bit more racing and a lot longer because I didn’t have world university games. We planned to group races together to simulate running rounds so I had to get up tired and travel and everything, and still come up. We were just trying to put more onto the body and to replicate what it’s going to feel like in Beijing and I really feel like I have it now.”

When Sean says “it” he means the various facets that will make him ready for Beijing, but where many other athletes are physically focused, with Sean there is a bent towards mental strength. He explains that he was disappointed in his racing at Heusden in Belgium.

“I was in the race and going along fine, we got to about 300m and came out of the bend pretty even. I was in lane six, so the two or three main guys were on my inside and I just kind of got complacent. I was almost happy where I was, there was no this is it or this is life or death feeling so I ended up coming fourth. I crossed the line thinking what was I doing?  It was a mental thing and I was just really disappointed.”

Just two days later in Stockholm he was back to his fighting best and felt like a different athlete. “I ran a pb because I wanted it, I got that real mental shift. I guess what happened in Belgium was just part of the learning process.”

Sean has high expectations about what the next two weeks will bring. He is quietly confident that he is in the mix for the final and just needs to keep sharpening that mental edge for it to happen. He knows there are some huge challenges ahead but is just making sure that when they come he is ready.

“Where I am capability wise in my event is interesting. There’s a whole bunch of guys who can make that top eight. There’s probably four or five athletes who are definitely going to make the final, the likes of Wariner, LaShawn Merritt and Chris Brown, but there’s probably two spots up for grabs and because the next group are all at a similar level it’s more about mental preparation. It’s going to be about making sure that this really is it, that it really is life or death because I don’t want to wait another four years to get that sting in me. I want to make sure I execute the race the way I want it to be executed and to leave nothing to chance.”

Sean knows he will almost certainly have to run a pb to get a lane in the final. He also has a plan, “when I’m in there (the final) I have a secret tactic that I’m going to do, I’m not sharing it yet, so you’ll have to watch to see what happens. Anything can happen in the final, I know it’s the Olympic Games but when the gun goes it’s just another race. It’s another 400m against the same guys I’ve been racing on the circuit. Everyone is running for their country that’s the difference, and well it’s bigger.”

During the 2008 domestic season the 400m was the event to watch, the depth, talent and characters held the athletics fans enthralled. The addition of World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner into the mix, set up some fantastic racing and a huge challenge for Wroe and his fellow one lap men. One that especially impressed Wroe was Joel Milburn, “Joel’s running wickedly, what he’s done in the last 12 to 18 months has just been amazing.”

But the challenges that came didn’t alter the plan carefully crafted by coach Eric Hollingsworth nor their focus on the big prize. “Our goal from the outset was to be in fighting form for the Beijing Olympics which is when we wanted to be running our best. It’s very hard to do both domestic and European season in great shape so we ticked the boxes in Australia and focused on now. Ideally I would have won another national title and run a lot faster in our meets, but I was doing quite heavy blocks of training because it was all geared towards August, even World Indoors was another way of practicing rounds in my mind.”

Wroe will also be a key member of the 4 x 400m relay team and there is some expectation on the team after the success of the silver bullets in Athens. But Wroe is unphased by this “compared to Athens, the crop of runners we have is as good or maybe better, statistically we can run faster. With everyone’s form at the moment it’s kind of hard to say to say who’s going to run and how fast they are going to run. If everything goes to plan we can definitely mix it with them. We all believe we can do something.” Undoubtedly the toughest assignment would be wrestling the gold from the Americans, who haven’t been beaten in this event for a long time but there are another two medals up for grabs and Sean is determined that he and his team mates are at least in with a fighting chance.

Speaking with Wroe about his feelings on going to Beijing and what is means to him is interesting. For someone so methodical and aware it’s a bit surprising that he thought he would be reacting to this situation differently.” As you grow up the games just has this aura about it, but to me at the moment, it’s just another championship. Maybe once I’m in Beijing and see everything, get the uniform and try it on it will all hit home.

As our first athlete to go into Beijing, and the only to march in the Opening Ceremony, Sean is quietly excited.” Marching was one of the biggest things for me in this Olympics. Obviously my job is to be prepared and ready compete to the best of my abilities. But knowing that marching would have an impact on my motivation, my coach Eric worked out the plan whilst I was away and Athletics Australia approved it. I think it will make a difference for me.”

He can’t put his finger on why marching is such a big thing for him but he does believe it will help him find the extra edge for his race. “When I marched in the Commonwealth Games, the way I felt when I walked out was amazing. All these people going ballistic, you know that this is what you’ve been training for. You forget everything else when you walk out into that stadium and you are wearing your uniform, the pain, stress and work you have put in. Obviously what you are there to do is race, but marching is about the recognition, wearing the green and gold, and a time for the athletes to be proud representatives of their country.”

Tonight Sean begins his Olympic journey at the opening ceremony in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, where in the next 8 days he will see what he is made of. One thing is for certain, in his mind he is ready to step up and be a real contributor in this team and if his races in Osaka and World indoors are anything to go by, he is rapidly becoming someone who can produce his best at big events.

It doesn’t get any bigger than Beijing and we are looking forward to cheering him on as he marches towards it.