Matt Ramsden using 2021 disappointment to drive 2022 goals
After achieving an Olympic qualifying time for the 2021 Tokyo Games, middle distance runner Matt Ramsden, was just a whisker away from making the Australian Olympic Team.
The depth in the 1500m in Australia meant while Ramsden had the time, he missed selection to the team. Although disappointment followed, it also served as fuel to put towards recent performances and resetting goals for 2022.
“I was disappointed when I found out I wasn’t selected last year. I’m not going to lie, to have worked so hard and have qualified in the 1500m and 5km events and not get selected in either one, was hard.
“In every other event, if you qualified, you automatically made the team. But I was the only one in Australian athletics that missed out with qualifying times.”
In April, Matt competed at the Chemist Warehouse Australian Track & Field Championships in Sydney, finishing the week on a high with a gold medal in the 5km and silver in the 1500m.
“I’m really glad that I won the 5km. I would have liked to have come away with the gold in the 1500m, but it had been over a year since I had raced Oliver [Hoare], so I didn’t know how I was going to go.”
With less than a second differentiating Matt and his 1500m rival, there is plenty to look forward too for the young distance runner in this year’s upcoming season.
“If I get selected, I want to make the final in the 1500m in both the Commonwealth Games and World Championships. With the Comm Games I’d like to finish in the top five, I feel as though it’s a realistic goal, but first I need to get selected.
“It’s an honour to represent, in my opinion, the best country in the world. I’ve travelled around the world on many occasions, but it makes you realise how good Australia is, so being able to represent Australia means a lot, it’s a privilege.”
Ramsden’s passion and interest in running first stemmed from his high school Japanese teacher, who ran a group at school called the hundred club.
“I went to Kolbe College down in Rockingham, it was there that I joined my Japanese teachers run club. I’d go every Tuesday and Thursday morning and you’d run as far as you wanted, you’d then log your K’s on a sheet and get a free breakfast provided at school.
“The first student to reach 100km would get a badge at the school assembly and you’d keep going until you reached 200, 400, 500km.
“It was also a case of, either get a lift with dad early before he started work or catch the bus to school. I hated catching the bus and I loved getting a free breakie, so before long I was running over 1000km a term.”
It was around year ten and only after a push from his teacher, that Matt then started taking athletics outside of school and running competitively.