Matt Boyd article (Australia)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/lo ... ubsection=

Beijing beckons for Boyd


21.03.2006
by TOBY WALKER ONLY Matt Boyd can tell you what goes through his mind as he soars through the air during a training session.
But with an opportunity to represent Australia at the world junior athletics championships in Beijing in the offing, there’s a good chance a trip to China was amongst the 17-year-old pole vaulter’s thoughts as he trained at the University of the Sunshine Coast on the weekend.

Looking on was his father and coach Ray Boyd, himself an Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion.

The pair had time to sneak in a quick practice session at the university before boarding a plane to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games.




The week-long trip to the Games was a family affair.
Ray and his wife Denise have both won gold for Australia at the Games while their daughters Jacinta and Alana, champion athletes in their own right, were unlucky to miss being selected to compete in Melbourne.

For Matt, the trip provides a glimpse of the world stage he hopes to compete on.

After Melbourne he will head to Adelaide for the national junior trials, where he hopes to book himself a seat to Beijing in August.

Fresh from urging on supermum marathon runner Kerryn McCann to her impressive victory, Ray Boyd said this year’s Games were well run and only surpassed as a spectacle by the Sydney Olympics and his fond memories of Brisbane, where he won gold in the pole vault.

"I think the excitement is the same in any city hosting the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics, it’s still a buzz no matter where it is or who holds it," he said.

"For Denise and I, we’re just really looking forward to catching up with people who we competed in teams with and telling a few stories."