27.03.2009

Riseley rounds out season to remember

Of all the national titles taken out in Brisbane at the weekend, few could have come at a better time than Jeff Riseley’s win in the men’s 1500m.

After a series of setbacks at major meets, the 22-year-old Victorian scored his first national crown last Saturday night, setting a meet record and personal best time and gaining automatic selection to the world championships along the way.

That he achieved the feat just weeks after being caught in the midst of the Victorian bushfires made Riseley’s win all the more emphatic.

Riseley, who lives on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne, was last month at the coalface of the Black Saturday fires that saw three of his training grounds – and almost his home – burned to the ground.  

“It’s been pretty hard, it was a really scary day on Black Saturday,” Riseley said.

“The fires came through my street and took down two houses and the fire came into my backyard. Elvis the bomber was flying around at tree-height around my house.

“Three out of four of my training places have had fires in them so I got back from New Zealand last week and did a threshold at Birdsland and there were signs up saying you weren’t allowed in there and I didn’t know where else to do my threshold, that was my place.”

Just weeks following the tragic events of Black Saturday, Riseley has booked his ticket to Berlin and is now fully focused on the road ahead. 

Hindered by a debilitating virus at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Riseley has stepped it up a gear since his return to Australian shores and the results have followed.

“I’ve done a lot of hard work since Beijing and it’s all paid off, I’m doing everything I can,” Riseley said after Saturday night’s win.

“I’ve won every race I’ve entered this domestic season and I’ve won them all sort of feeling like there’s still another gear there, so it was good to get out there tonight and just see what I can do and put it out there.

“One of the good things about tonight is being able to compete when it matters and that’s something I haven’t been able to do in the past.

“When the world championships have come around I’ve bombed out, I haven’t won a national title, so it was just really important to get out there and win tonight for my confidence and know that when it’s on the line, I can do it.”

At just 22 years of age Riseley already has Olympic, world championship and world university appearances to his name but for the Victorian, this is just the beginning.

“I’ve just got to keep developing as an athlete, I’m still very young and I’ve only really been running since I was 18,” he said.

“The world champs weren’t a massive goal for me this year because my last two efforts at a world championships haven’t gone so well, so number one was really about me developing as an athlete and getting stronger and fitter and being able to compete with the best guys in the world in the big meets.

“Once I can do that and be competitive and finish in high places, the times are going to come.

“This season’s just about trying to win as many races as I can and I haven’t lost yet so that’s been really good for my confidence.”

Helping Riseley on his way are track masterminds Richard Huggins and Nic Bideau, who Riseley believes have what it takes to guide him all the way to the top.   

“A wise man once told me you’re only as strong as your weakest link, so I’m trying to build some really strong links that are going to carry me right through,” he said.

“Nic Bideau has been a great man to have around, he has this positive belief that you can do anything you want.

“He said to me (on Saturday night) you’ve just got to go out there and be ruthless tonight and just want it really bad, and I did want it."

It seems only a matter of time before what Riseley wants next, comes his way.