| Dani forced to grin and bare it |
 |
|
NICK WALSHAW The Daily Telegraph May 10, 2010 DANI Samuels wears training shorts that hang around her knees. Conservative, she always thought . . . until she arrived in Qatar. "Oh, on day one I felt like running off to hide,'' our champion discus thrower laughs from her Doha hotel. "I mean, obviously before arriving you know this is a conservative culture where women wear long dresses and face coverings. "But with so many female athletes wearing the little hoochie shorts and so on, I never imagined there being dramas. "Well, not until I arrived at the track a day early. I was the only female inside the arena. "So I'm throwing and there's 30, maybe 40 local men just staring at me. "Athletes, coaches, managers, journalists, groundsmen . . . I just wanted to disappear.'' So what did the Sydney blonde do? "Well, I put my jacket back on for a couple of throws,'' she laughs. "But then thought, `can't be bothered'.'' Yep, welcome to Australia's push toward the 2010 Commonwealth Games. A journey as important as it is anonymous. Where long before the cameras, kudos and newspaper countdowns, our athletes spend five months trawling the globe. It's a torturous whirl of international meets, economy flights and dodgy buffets. Of washing clothes in hotel bathrooms and carrying sachets of your favourite cereal in bulging luggage. And it kicked off last night when Samuels opened proceedings in stage one of the inaugural Diamond League -- a rich international tournament that in coming weeks will involve fellow Aussies superstars such as pole vaulter Steve Hooker, hurdler Sally Pearson (nee McLellan) and long jumpers Fabrice Lapierre and Mitch Watt. "I'm away about six weeks there, and then straight on to India,'' says Samuels. But for now, Delhi remains 141 days away. A reality that sees this Sydneysider emailing daily report cards to her trainers back home while once again squashing down that suitcase carrying everything from Asics shorts and discuses to cereal, washing powder and six cans of tuna. "But the Diamond League is great because normally I'd be scouring Europe for events,'' Samuels explains. "Then you'd have to hope some of the top throwers were entering. "I mean, sometimes you'd travel across the world to find yourself against girls who threw 20 metres less. So this is perfect. I can handle a few stares because Qatar is where I need to be.'' |