A sterling performance
By Charlotte Knottenbelt and Emma Masters
While Australia basks in the glow of its biggest Olympic medal haul, two
of those medallists who also happen to be UniSA students have been busy
adjusting to life after Athens.
Winning silver medals has undoubtedly changed the lives of Mark Ormrod and Ben Wigmore, but both are determined to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground. The two found time between school visits, media interviews and awards functions to chat to Students@UniSA.
The running man
Winning a silver medal at his first ever Olympics, UniSA Applied Science (Applied Chemistry) student Mark Ormrod is still coming to terms with the fact he has achieved the Olympic dream so early in his running career.
Ormrod, who took study leave in March to prepare for the Athens Olympics, was part of the 4x400m relay team that won silver, Australia’s first Olympic track relay medal since the 1956 Melbourne games.
As the second runner in a team of four, 21-year-old Ormrod played an important role in getting Australia to silver glory. Achieving the second fastest time in his leg of the relay race, his run helped move the team closer to the leading countries.
“When Clinton ran over the line, I just couldn’t believe it. I don’t think winning the medal has truly sunk in,” Ormrod says.
So now he’s back in Adelaide, has he had a chance to relax and enjoy the fruits of his labour, or even get back into his study?
“Not quite. I’ve been going from one public event to another – it’s been incredibly hectic,” he says.
“I’m so busy I can’t return to my studies at the moment. But I’m looking at options to do external studies so I can continue training, possibly even moving across to UniSA’s marketing or education degrees.”
Hitting home runs
Relaxing at home on a rare afternoon off, UniSA medical radiation student Ben Wigmore says he’s been through a rollercoaster of emotions since he received a last minute call inviting him to join the Australian men’s baseball team as a catcher in Athens.
“I wasn’t originally part of the team – I got called up to replace an injured player at the last minute, so it was pretty much straight onto the plane after finding out I was in,” he says.
“The team was determined to make up for finishing a disappointing seventh in Sydney, and so we went through the whole Olympics with blinkers on – it wasn’t until the very end that we let our hair down.”
Their focus paid off and the team made history, making the gold medal playoff against Cuba, and bringing home the silver – Australia’s first Olympic medal in baseball.
Now that he’s back Wigmore has been getting back into study, aware that he’s got some catching up to do.
“I missed two weeks of placement and two weeks of classes but my lecturers have been fantastic about it,” he says. “It was great knowing that I could just drop things and pick them up when I got back, that there were people who had my best interests at heart who were willing to help me through it –
I couldn’t have asked for more.”