Secret Sporting Business

Put on your personal protective equipment and go behind the scenes with Editor-at-Large Louise Evans at the Sydney Track Classic.

There’s always blood, sweat, tears, cheers and vomit at an elite athletics competition and the Sydney Track Classic delivered in buckets.

In addition to the on-field drama that everyone sees, you may not realise that the theatre continues in the mixed zone, the warm down area and track apron after the events are run and won.

So button-up your protective gear, suppress your gag reflex and let’s go behind the scenes at the Sydney Track Classic at the ES Marks Athletics Field, which is 4km from the CBD in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

It’s an ancient venue that dates back to 1904 and is named after former Sydney Lord Mayor and athletics administrator Ernest Samuel Marks. It’s old and tired and despite the track being resurfaced in 2022 as part of a $4.8m upgrade, it’s predominantly a Little Athletics and school carnival venue that today offers a poor spectator experience.

It was a case of back to the future for Athletics Australia president Jane Flemming who competed at the ES Marks field “a ton of times” in her decade-long career from the 1980s-1990s which was decorated by two Commonwealth Gold medals in Auckland 1990.

Ditto it was back to the future for the dedicated award-winning media core of photographer Steve Christo, world athletics guru Nicole Jeffery and Sportshounds finest scribes Louise Evans and Mike Osborne, who all worked together but for rival organisations from the 1980s up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 

So what the hell are we doing back here for an elite athletics meet in an Olympic year instead of the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre at Homebush? The NSW Little Athletics championships had booked the Olympic venue for the weekend so Australia’s prospective Paris Olympic medallists got kicked down to the road to Kensington. Duh! But the show must go on.

The high jump run-up wasn’t long enough for 2022 world champion and 2023 world silver medallist Eleanor Patterson, who eked out a pedestrian 1.88m clearance. She wasn’t happy but a win’s a win.

We know this because after the athletes have competed they are shepherded to a “mixed zone” where they talk to the media about life, the universe and their performance.

Patterson, a NSW Institute of Sport athlete, said the officials tried to make the runway longer by moving the high jump further into the infield but it was still about four metres shy and threw out her rhythm. 

Patterson also revealed she’s not related to Erin Patterson, the woman from her hometown who’s been charged with three counts of murder for allegedly poisoning family members with killer mushrooms served in a beef wellington lunch.

Erin Patterson comes from Leongatha, the same town where Eleanor was born and raised in Victoria’s South Gippsland, 135km south-east of Melbourne. Eleanor said she rang home when news of the alleged mushroom murder broke and her mum confirmed that she’s no relation. “It’s a small town but we don’t know these Pattersons,” she said.

Despite the cool conditions Australian record holder Jessica Hull was in a lather of sweat in the mixed zone after easily winning the 3000m in 8min37.18. Hull said running in Australia was harder than overseas because of the pressure and expectation. “Here the field was waiting for me to make a move, I’m the player,” she explained. “Overseas I can blend in more and run with the race, not have to set the pace.”

This is where the behind-the-scenes intel gets icky. While the media gets corralled into the trackside mixed zone, photographers have more free range around the track and infield. But this freedom comes with its own danger.

Some track athletes have a tendency to vomit after a tough race and teenage star Cameron Myers did not disappoint. After winning the 3000m in a stunning new under-20 record time of 7min46.38, Myers decorated the track apron with the fruits of his labour. Better out than in right? 

Because his was the last event on the program the risk of an unfortunate photographer encountering Myers leftovers was limited. Sportshounds’ photographer Nick La Galle confirmed he finished the night with a pair of clean heels. 

The 17-year-old Myers meanwhile recovered quickly from his up-and-under to cruise into the mixed zone where he revealed that he’s a big fan of Norway’s Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has a penchant for trash talking his rivals. 

“It’s good for the sport, it’s not toxic, it’s all friendly and necessary for the sport,” he said.   Myers is running faster times over 800m-3000m than the Nordic showman was at the same age so it’ll be interesting to see if his team can catch this young tiger by the tail and keep him healthy and improving as they aim for the Paris Olympics 1500m.

Most of the tears and cheers on the night erupted after the women’s 100m relay when Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis flew over the finish line to help set a new national 4x100m record of 42.94s. 

Lewis was heroically aided and abetted in shattering the  24-year-old record by fellow relay team mates Ebony Lane, Bree Masters and Ella Connolly. 

The killer quartet said it was an emotional breakthrough as they chase more tears and records at the Bahamas World Athletics Relay Championships and a vital Paris Olympic-qualifying time in May.