Riseley back with a vengeance

Olympic middle-distance runner Jeff Riseley made a winning return to the track at the annual Zatopek meeting at Olympic Park last Thursday. 22123 Picture: Stewart Chambers

By Marc McGowan
JEFF Riseley is back.
The former Narre Warren little athlete won his first competitive hit-out of the season in the 1500m at the annual Zatopek meeting at Olympic Park last Thursday.
Riseley, 21, sped past New South Welshman Jeremy Roff in the final 100m to clock 3:39.77 in his first race since a virus ruined his debut Olympic campaign in Beijing.
The time was almost four seconds slower than the Harkaway middle-distance sensation’s brilliant 3:36.03 run that earned him a late call-up into the Australian Olympic team.
But Riseley said the competition was more about regaining his confidence.
“I haven’t won in Melbourne in a while and I just wanted a win in front of my home crowd and the time was irrelevant,” he said.
Riseley has been injury-free for the past eight months – a far cry from the multitude of ailments that threatened to derail his Olympic dream.
“I’m not killing myself at the moment (in training), but I’m getting fitter and getting my consistency back,” he said.
“I normally run twice a day, three times a week (at peak training time), but I’m just training once a day at the moment and I’m feeling good about training and not feeling sore or tired.
“I’ll start cranking it up this week.”
Riseley will compete at the Melbourne Telstra A-Series meeting on 5 March before trying to win his first senior national title in Queensland two weeks later.
But he is looking beyond the national championships, which double as the selection trials for the world championships in Germany in August.
“It would mean a lot to be the best in Australia, but in the whole scheme of things it is only small for me,” Riseley said.
“I want to be more than a national champion – I want to be competitive on the international scene.
“It’s a little stepping stone and I’ve just got to keep getting fitter and stronger and then go over to Europe and America and really compete well.”