Burgess has nothing to lose in village

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/co ... 22,00.html

Burgess has nothing to lose in village
Jenny McAsey
March 16, 2006
PAUL BURGESS is right at home in the cocoon-like environment of the Games village.

Australia's leading pole vaulter is, by his own admission, unbelievably messy, prone to mishaps and almost as talented at losing personal possessions such as his wallet and passport as he is at athletics.

The last time he came to grief was a few weeks ago in Singapore when he was separated from his passport while en route to a prestigious pole vault competition in Ukraine.

"I panicked and was so stressed out but someone handed it in before I had to get on the plane. I don't have very good coping skills, if things don't work out I don't know where to start to fix it," Burgess said with a laugh.

Burgess won the Ukraine competition, run by pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, with a leap of 5.80m, his best outside Australia.






But back home the next week, things went pear-shaped again for the knockabout Perth vaulter. He strained his calf muscle during training and has not been able to practise since.

He was due to enter the village on Sunday, three days before he competes at the MCG. But instead he came early, arriving on Tuesday to be close to the best medical treatment.

Burgess, a silver medallist in Manchester four years ago, said he was more relaxed now he was in Melbourne and able to receive constant physiotherapy and massage treatment. "Village life is very stress-free, everyone is around there to help you. Life is so easy," Burgess said yesterday.

His calf injury brought back painful memories last year, when he missed the world championships in Helsinki, Finland, with an injury to his other calf.

"I have just done virtually nothing this time, no jumping at all," he said. "I didn't want to make the same mistake of coming back too early. That's what I did last year and I kept re-injuring it. This time I wanted to let it get better on its own and then rebuild the strength."

He is now clear of the injury but a little edgy. His first practice jumps will be on Monday, before the qualifying round on Wednesday when his main competitors will be compatriots Steven Hooker and Dmitri Markov, with no high-ranked international competitors in Melbourne.

Hooker in particular has been jumping well on the back of a two-year injury-free period. Two weeks ago he leapt a personal best of 5.91m, edging closer to the 6m personal best Burgess cleared last year.