Reborn Shirvo eyes 10-second barrier
February 28, 2008
A DECADE after running a personal best 10.03 seconds, Matt Shirvington wants to be world class again.
Shirvington enters this weekend’s Olympic selection trials in Brisbane as favourite to take out the 100m six years after winning the last of his six national titles.
But the 29-year-old sprinter, who buckled under the same expectations before the 2006 Commonwealth Games, is also looking beyond the trials.
His third placing (10.35) behind world record-holder Asafa Powell in Melbourne last week, seven months before the Beijing Games, has Shirvington tipping he can again push the 10-second barrier.
“I believe that by August I won’t just be running fast I think I can be running super-fast, I think I can be running internationally fast again,” he said.
How fast? “Personal-best territory.”
To guarantee an Olympic berth, Shirvington must win the national title or finish second to Patrick Johnson, who has an A-qualifier, and also run an A-qualifying time of 10.21.
It’s now five years since he last bettered 10.2 but a mere top-three finish will aid his cause, still having until June 23 to achieve the mark before the Australian Games team is finalised.
Shirvington was in the similar situation heading into the national titles two years ago but finished fifth in the final to miss out on an individual Commonwealth Games berth by 0.02 seconds.
He still suited up in Melbourne for the 4x100m relay but suffered the ignominy of failing to run at the Games when he was rested from the heats then dropped the baton on the last change when Australia was challenging for gold.
The gut-wrenching failure almost saw him end his career before deciding to have “one last crack”.
[b]“I ended up having eight or nine months off after the Commonwealth Games and I was pretty close to walking away,” Shirvington said.
"The disappointment of not (securing an) individual spot in the Commonwealth Games, dropping the baton in the relay at the end, knowing that I had potentially something other to do outside of Olympics, I had a baby on the way; all of these things they were contributing to me thinking at least having some time off and thinking about it.
“But the desire was still there the fire was still there and I put together a good winter training period in London and that led to a good European summer.”
Shirvington, who won’t have to contend with a disillusioned Josh Ross or an injured Adam Miller in the field, said he was better equipped to handle the pressure this weekend than two years ago.
He empathised with Ross who has withdrawn from the national titles after losing his desire.
“I absolutely have an understanding of what he’s going through,” he said. “It’s so, so tough to run a high international-standard time and then not come out and not find that form again, it’s disheartening, it’s really hard.” [/b]