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Olympic Training Camp UpdateApril 1 1999Sydney 2000 -- Olympic Training Camp UpdateCouran Cove - The Germans Invade (March 99)Ron Clarke's Couran Cove Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Sight of Athletics Canada's Pre Olympic Training Camp (August 25, 2000 to the Games)Ron's resort is running hotOverseas teams are flocking to Couran Cove Resort, the brainchild of Ron Clarke, to prepare for the 2000 Olympics, reports Louise Evans.WEIGHING in at an intimidating 130kg, there's not too much that scares giant German discus thrower Michael Lischka, except for spiders and snakes and that killer Australian sun that's been frying him during his first trip down under. Lischka shudders when he retells the story of a snake found in a bungalow at the German Olympic athletics team's acclimatization camp at Couran Cove Resort on the Gold Coast. The 25-year-old from Stuttgart has heard snakes are poisonous. Are they? He's become more accustomed to the wallabies that come bounding past the open-air weight-training room. But he's not going back out into the surrounding rainforest, which he calls the jungle, because there are spiders. He reveals, wide-eyed, that one ran down his leg. "I did not like, too many legs," he said. To a local tourist, this state-of-the-art $100 million resort on South Stradbroke Island, which is the brainchild of Australian distance running legend Ron Clarke, is heaven. Looking down the rolling sand dunes at an uninterrupted beach view, you can imagine this is what the Gold Coast was like before it was trashed. But Lischka and his 60 teammates are going through hell during this inaugural three-week camp. The tyranny of long-distance travel, which has been the curse of touring Australian athletes for decades, is now a real and debilitating factor for the rest of the world heading to the Sydney Olympics next year. It's hard not to smirk as a sweating Lischka explains the temperature was minus four degrees when he left home and how the team is struggling in the 28-degree heat which is sapping their renowned strength. It's making an exhausted Lischka sleep twice during the day. Throw in two training sessions and the need to keep his 1.97m frame fueled, and there's precious little time for the poor thing to enjoy the surf. Are those big waves safe? "It is too hot for me," Lischka said. "I am too tired to go to the beach. The sun comes and shines on your head and then you are not so good." Lischka and his teammates are just going to have to get used to it. He is one of the first fleet of German track-and-field athletes heading in waves to Couran Cove over the next 18 months to prepare for the Olympics. The Germans will not be alone at the resort. The Swiss, Norwegian and Canadian Olympic track and field teams have booked in at $45 a head per night. Swiss and German triathletes are planning a visit and the British swimming team has already come and gone. The Germans are spending $70,000 to stay for these three weeks and they are scheduled to return up to four times in the lead-up to Sydney. Funding of 5-7 million deutschmark ($5.5-$7.7 million) in the annual budget will prepare about 85 German track-and-field athletes and 50 coaches and officials to win a minimum eight Olympic medals. THE Germans chose Couran Cove as their Australian base because of its state-of-the-art training facilities which include a shaded three-lane 180m tartan running track that has an individually operated starting system and pacing lights which allow athletes to accurately time and measure their progress. There is also a shaded, open-air weight room, multiple throwing circles near the beach, a 25m 10-lane swimming pool and medical-support facilities. Clarke talks enthusiastically about an additional sports centre he's planning 15 minutes across the water at Runaway Bay which will have a 400m track, 50m competition pool, gym and medical facilities. German athletics federation president and national Olympic committee vice-president Professor Helmut Digel said Couran Cove was chosen after initial contact was made by Clarke and two German directors inspected the resort-in-development a year ago. The $45 a head per night price was within budget. The facilities were technically good as were the climate, food and bungalow accommodation. More importantly, Digel said promises made by Clarke had been fulfilled. Now if they can tackle the jet lag and acclimatization over the next 18 months, eight Olympic medals will go home to Germany. "I believe we have found the perfect place," Digel said. "I was asking Ilke Wyludda, our Olympic discus champion who has been traveling and competing for 15 years what she thought about this camp and she said it was her best ever. "Most of our athletes have never been to Australia and they need to get used to the conditions. Here they can train hard and relax and enjoy life. Athletics teams are usually very divided. "Hammer throwers and sprinters are psychologically from very different worlds. But here, they all sit around together to eat at breakfast and they are talking. First time. It is good for building a team. We did not need to motivate them to go and talk to some school children for a clinic. They were happy to go. Usually they ask for money." Clarke's resort, which opened in September, is aimed mainly at the tourist trade. But he purposely built the elite training facilities to lure the Olympians and he laughs at the suggestion that he's profiting from preparing foreign teams to win medals from Australian athletes in Sydney. "Olympic Games are about competing together, who wins and who loses doesn't bother me, it is good competition that excites me," the one-time multiple world distance record holder said. "If the Australian are good enough, they will win. They can come here and train. Anyone can come. "When you invite the rest of the world here you learn from them, we learn from each other. That is what the Olympics is all about." If you have news, results or info please let us know by using our submission form or emailing Larry Steinke [ MEET INFORMATION ] [ ANALYSIS & TIPS ] [ THROWS ARTICLES ] [ INTERVIEWS ] [ RECORDS ] [ RESULTS ] [ CLASSIFIEDS ] [ HOT LINK ARCHIVE ] [ DISCUSSION FORUM ] [ SUBMISSIONS ] [ THROWERS QUIZ ] [ GUESTBOOK ] | ||