Commonwealth Games call-up for Olivia Mathias
Triathlon star Olivia Mathias said she was overjoyed after being picked to compete for Wales in the Commonwealth Games.
The 19-year-old, of Fenton, will compete in the Mixed Triathlon Relay on Australia’s Gold Coast in April.
Mathias, a member of both Newark Swimming Club and Newark Athletic Club, qualifies for the team through her Welsh father.
“I am just so excited,” she said. “It is hard to know what to say because it is just completely overwhelming.
“This is my first major senior championships and I can’t wait to go and experience it, learn and see what it’s all about.
“If I qualify to compete in the future then hopefully I will be able to use what I learn and that will help a lot.
“I don’t have any other plans sorted for the rest of the year — right now I am just focusing all my attentions on the Commonwealths.”
She will be joined in the mixed team relay by Rio Olympics bronze medallist Non Stanford, along with Iestyn Harrett and Liam Lloyd.
Mathias will continue her training at Loughborough ahead of the Games, after she was picked to join the UK Lottery funded World Class Performance Squad.
A place in the squad gives Mathias access to top coaching staff and specialist practitioners, equipment and world-leading facilities, and she said the benefits had been felt.
'Everyone encourages one another'
“It is just so much easier having a base and being able to see my coach every day,” she said.
“Having everyone there in Loughborough makes training easier.
“You have some days where you do not want to get out of bed, but everyone encourages and energises one another, which is nice.”
The Commonwealth Games team will head out to Australia a month early, in March, so they can acclimatise and train in hotter conditions.
The mixed relay event will take place on April 7 and will see each team member swim 250m, cycle 7km and run 1.5km before handing over to a team-mate.
Mathias enjoyed a strong year in 2017, crossing the line sixth in the ITU Junior World Grand Final in Rotterdam in October.
Luke Watson, the Welsh triathlon coach for the Games, said: “The standard was very high, so we are proud and excited that Commonwealth Games Wales have selected our team for the Games — a massive well done to all the athletes and coaches involved.
“As a Welsh Triathlon Performance team we are aiming to ensure that ours is the best prepared team at the Games, and we will be doing all that we can to ensure that the athletes are able to deliver their best performances on the Gold Coast.”
Mathias capped a successful week with a victory for Newark Athletic Club in the women’s under-20s race at the Midlands Cross Country Championships at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, on Saturday.
