Solomon secures Olympic spot
AFTER months of waiting, Steven Solomon was officially told last week that he would be a part of the Australian athletics team at the 2012 London Olympics. The national 400m champion, was selected as part of the 4x400m relay team, and he’s confident that he can still shave 0.24 seconds off his personal best time before the July 7 deadline to run an A-qualifying time and earn a spot in the individual 400m race in the UK as well.
AFTER months of waiting, Steven Solomon was officially told last week that he would be a part of the Australian athletics team at the 2012 London Olympics.
The national 400m champion, was selected as part of the 4x400m relay team, and he’s confident that he can still shave 0.24 seconds off his personal best time before the July 7 deadline to run an A-qualifying time and earn a spot in the individual 400m race in the UK as well.
“I had mixed emotions of elation and relief because I could finally tell my family and friends that I was going to the Olympics,” 19-year-old Solomon told The AJN last week.
“I’m really excited to compete. I really want to show what I can do in front of the world against the top guys in the world.
“Everything else that comes with the Olympics, the Olympic fever, the village atmosphere, going to watch the other sports, the Olympic village, it’s all something I’m looking forward to,” he said.
Solomon’s rise to fame has been meteoric because only three years ago he had never considered a career on the running track.
“I was always a keen soccer player, and as I got older I started to develop more, started to get stronger and I was always a decent athlete coming through high school.
“One of my current training partners, who was my coach at Cranbrook for the hurdles, really encouraged me to get into the sport; and once I got into it, I fell in love with it straight away.”
Solomon has a busy few months ahead. He will represent Australia at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Junior Championships in Barcelona from July 10-15, and after the Olympics he will begin a scholarship at Stanford University in America.
“I’m really excited to go to Stanford, because the US system is a very good system for someone like myself who is up and coming and has the potential to do really well in the sport.”
He said the US college system offers regular tough competition and most of the best runners in the world have come through the collegial system.
JOSHUA LEVI
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