OUTSIDER in London, cult hero in Rio.
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Jarrod Poort’s race plan was two years in the making, but the event was his destiny, even before diving in for the 1500m heats in 2012.
Then he was a reserved teenager, the last to make the Olympics team with a B-qualifying time, surrounded by alpha males.
The culture in London was described as “toxic” and led to then Australian swimming coach Leigh Nugent resigning, amid poor team morale and admissions of disruptive behaviour and the abuse of sleep medication.
Australian open water swimming mentor Ron McKeon – father of Emma and David – dismissed suggestions Poort was bullied during the Olympics campaign four years ago.
Whatever ridicule might have come his way was long forgotten, by the time the now 21-year-old surged to a lead of more than a minute in the Copacabana ocean.
Suddenly, Poort – well-known in the Illawarra but largely obscure in the wider sporting landscape – was on track to become a national hero. Anyone up late to watch the Opals women’s basketball team, which crashed out in the quarter-final against Serbia, was glued to the television cheering on the Wollongong wonder.
The blueprint had been finalised in the Olympics qualifying event in Portugal in June, where Poort had powered ahead with three kilometres remaining.
He was caught there too, finishing seventh, but it was a tactical ploy which secured his place for Australia and provided a test run for what was to come on Tuesday night.
Poort – who missed out when behind former ironman Ky Hurst in the London 10km qualifier – faded in the final two kilometres, eventually finishing 20th as rivals swamped him on the final of four 2.5-kilometre laps. Afterwards, Poort and his father Gary both spoke of the “heart” and “balls” it took to make his move from the start line. In between the 80 kilometres of training per week, this had been a continuing theme for Poort, during conversations with his family and with McKeon in the lead-up.
He had to be mentally prepared to pull this off.
“All the boys said 'man, you're crazy, that was ballsy',” Poort said. “I said ‘yeah boys, I thought I'd mix it up’. I thought I had them, I tell you I could smell it.
“I knew going in I'd get through 5km pretty well, the third lap would be hard and then I thought the last lap, with a gold medal in sight, that would drive me through it. But the body couldn't quite do it, the arms went and that was it. I just blew up and it sucks. But it did take a lot of balls and a lot of heart. Maybe I will try it again in another four years.”
And that’s the upshot.
The Rio performance is only the beginning.
Dutch gold winner Ferry Weertman is 24 and Greek silver medallist Spyridon Gianniotis is 36.
With the physical conditioning of another four years and the hardened mental approach which comes from competing at two Olympic Games, Poort could be impossible to catch in Tokyo.