Solomon stars in Stanford debut
AUSTRALIAN Olympian Steven Solomon has returned to the track for the first time since the London Games in August last year, winning the 400m individual and relay races in his debut meet for US university Stanford.
AUSTRALIAN Olympian Steven Solomon has returned to the track for the first time since the London Games in August last year, winning the 400m individual and relay races in his debut meet for US university Stanford.
The 19-year-old recently began his sports scholarship at the prestigious college and raced for the first time for the Cardinals at the 119th running of the Big Meet against track and field rival, the University of California-Berkeley.
“I could not have planned for my first race for Stanford to have gone any better,” Solomon told The AJN.
“I was able to win both my races in front of both teammates and friends and I’m glad it proved to be as enjoyable and successful as I had hoped.
“These were my first races since the London Olympic Games and both runs felt good and I took a lot of confidence away from them.”
Solomon ran a time of 46.91 to win the individual event by over a second, before running a similar split in the final leg of the 4x400m relay.
The track star is now confident he can return to a sub-45-second time.
“I am in a certain training phase at the moment to prepare my body to run fast when it counts,” Solomon said.
“I fully intend on running as fast as I can at the major championships later in the year, [which] are the NCAA Championships in June and the IAAF World Championships in Moscow in August.
“I cannot wait to don the green and gold again in Moscow and can only hope that I can share equal, if not better success than I did the last time I had the coat of arms above my heart.”
In between those two events are the Maccabiah Games in Israel in July, but he has not yet decided whether he will feature at the event.
“I really hope I can compete in the Maccabiah Games, but I will only be able to make a decision a few weeks out from the event,” said Solomon.
“I would love to do it, but it just depends on my health status at the time, as well as what would be best for my preparation for Moscow.”
Off the track, Solomon is following in the footsteps of his father Michael and is studying medicine, and at one of the best universities in the world he is taking full advantage of the facilities and the social aspects of college life.
“I am having the time of my life here at Stanford,” he said.
“I just love everything about the university. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, both aesthetically and culturally.”
Ashley Shenker
Photo: Peter Haskin
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