Legend who slammed Aussie athletics reveals what’s changed
Olympic gold medallist Ralph Doubell has applauded the “very encouraging” results Australian athletics has enjoyed recently, and what he feels is a change in attitude, after another bag of medals was won in the USA.
Five years after launching a scathing attack on Australian athletics, the legendary 800-metre runner has spoken with pride in the performances of athletes at the Commonwealth Games and world under-20 titles, among other recent championships.
Australia’s Cameron Myers racing world record holder Josh Kerr in the men’s mile final at the Commonwealth Games. AP Photo/Kin Cheung.
Australia finished with a table-topping 34 medals, including 12 golds, 11 silvers and 11 bronzes, in athletics at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games this month.
On the final day of the track and field program, the team won six gold medals and 11 medals overall – making for Australian athletics’ greatest day in Commonwealth Games history.
And at the world under-20 championships in Eugene, Oregon, which wrapped up on Monday (Australian time), the likes of Isaac Beacroft and Izobelle Louison-Roe ensured the medals kept on flowing.
The team won six medals at Hayward Field: two golds, three silvers and a bronze.
Only three Australian men have won Olympic gold on the track: Edwin Flack, Herb Elliott and Doubell.
Doubell, who won gold with an 800m tactical masterclass in Mexico City in 1968, is the most recent.
In an interview with nine.com.au during the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, he said it was time that “people pull their finger out and start performing”.
“People need to focus on winning and not just turning up for the opening ceremony,” Doubell said.
Five years on, his tune is totally different.
“As a general statement, I think more athletes are focused on getting results,” he told nine.com.au.
“I think there’s been an attitude change, and for the better. They are more focused on getting to the final, and trying to win.
“I don’t know how the change has come about. I’m sure they weren’t listening to me to cause that change. But it has changed, and the women have probably led the change. They have had much better results than the men for the last 10 years.
“This has been a very encouraging change ... and hopefully they can maintain that standard or improve it.”
Ralph Doubell winning gold in the men’s 800m at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Getty Images.
In Paris in 2024, Australia achieved its best haul of medals in athletics at the Olympics since the Melbourne Games of 1956.
The team secured seven medals in France, including one gold courtesy of Nina Kennedy in the women’s pole vault.
A few weeks after the Paris Games, Australia reeled in 15 medals, including three golds, at the world under-20 championships in Lima, Peru. That return remains Australia’s best in the event’s history.
Propelling the team on to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is a core group of high-performing veterans, including Kennedy, Nicola Olyslagers, Eleanor Patterson, Matt Denny, Kurtis Marschall, Jessica Hull and Jemima Montag, and a huge number of rising stars, including Torrie Lewis, Abbey Caldwell, Claudia Hollingsworth, Gout Gout, Lachlan Kennedy, Cameron Myers, Ky Robinson and Beacroft.
Doubell gave special mention to the three women who swept the podium in the mile in Glasgow: gold medallist Caldwell, silver medallist Hull and bronze medallist Hollingsworth.
From left: silver medallist Jessica Hull, gold medallist Abbey Caldwell and bronze medallist Claudia Hollingsworth after their sweep of the women’s mile podium in Glasgow. Michael Steele/Getty Images.
“That was one heck of a turn-up,” the 81-year-old said.
“It showed very good strength [in women’s middle distance].”
He also noted the scintillating rise of Myers, the 20-year-old middle-distance prodigy who won silver in the mile in Glasgow and has destroyed the record books over the past four years, both nationally and globally.
“Cameron Myers has been running very well, and he’s aggressive and wants to win races,” Doubell said.
“He just came up against a faster runner in Glasgow.”
That “faster runner”, of course, was newly minted mile world record holder Josh Kerr, who burst ahead over the final lap to claim a dominant victory on his home track.
There are four stops left in the Diamond League season, which will wind up with a two-day final in Brussels, Belgium across September 4-5, and a bunch of World Athletics Continental Tour events remaining.
All roads lead to Beijing, the host of the 2027 world championships.
