Lamble taking Rio in her stride
Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Regan Lamble has capped off a successful European stint with nomination to the Australian team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Her campaign included a personal best performance of 1:29:33 over 2okm in Rome that was the fastest by an Australian in 4 years. Lamble spoke of the new perspective that has reinvigorated her athletic career, “I have been approaching my racing and training differently since returning to the sport in 2015, and having a new perspective on things has made a big difference to my physical performance. I am throwing myself into training sessions and races that I previously shied away from, and it’s making a difference. I still believe I have lots of room for improvements in my training and racing, but it’s amazing to see what a fresh perspective can do for performance.” Reaching peak condition, and racing well didn’t come about by chance, with a big stint in Europe based in Varese, expertly designed by coach Brent Vallance. “My European campaign was really successful, as essentially the goal was to produce results that would be competitive for Olympic selection and also, to gain racing experience. I used the AIS European Training Centre as my base, which is perfect environment for training and particularly for my trip, as I was spending a fair amount of time training solo. I came away with a PB and 3 Olympic qualifiers, so it was a really valuable experience for many reasons. I have to thank my coach for constructing such a well planned trip for me! And the many people who made the trip possible. “
With Rio looming on the horizon there’s just time for the University of Melbourne Masters student to get through some assignments, spend some brief time at home before heading back off overseas, “we will leave for St Moritz in Switzerland for 5 weeks of Altitude training starting towards the end of June. This is obviously a very important and final big block of training before the games. Then aside from a athletics team camp in Florida, it’s straight to Rio.” In career best form Lamble hopes to in the mix as the racing gets tough, “I am hoping to come top 12 in Rio, and I would certainly love to better my PB. I feel fortunate to have been given plenty of racing opportunities so far this year, so I’m excited to really put the experience to use and see what unfolds.”
