SUSF Elite Athlete Program (EAP) scholarship holder Nicholas Hough will represent Australia at the 2013 Athletics World Championships alongside three other Sydney University athletes.
Hough has been selected in the squad of six sprinters that are eligible to run in Australia’s 4x100m relay team in Moscow, Russia from August 10-18.
Unlike his Sydney University Athletics Club (SUAC) teammates and fellow EAP scholarship holders Lara Tamsett, Joshua Ralph and Jarrod Geddes, who qualified for selection earlier this year, Hough wasn’t made aware of his selection fate until he was awoken in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“I was in bed when I got an email on my phone at about 3am this morning,” explained Hough. “It (his selection) was definitely on the cards, but a big surprise nonetheless.”
“You obviously don’t want to get your hopes up and with every hour that you don’t hear from them (Athletics Australia) I was getting less and less confident. But I always knew that I could still make the team, and I did.”
Athletics Australia stipulates in their selection policy that athletes are allowed to qualify for the World Championships all the way up until July 29, where a final selection meeting took place. While most athletes already knew of their selection, the relay events are discretionary so Hough wasn’t notified until yesterday’s selection meeting.
“They decided that my performances across the season was enough to get me there, but there were also a few other guys who were unlucky to miss out. It was definitely a good surprise to wake up to.”
Hough was the sixth fastest Australian at the Australian Nationals in the 100m and second fastest in the 200m. He also raced strongly in a number of Australian Grand Prix events held this year.
While Tamsett (Bachelor of Media & Communications), Ralph (Bachelor of Applied Science {Exercise & Sports Science}), Geddes and the majority of the Australian team have been preparing for the World Championships over in Russia, the Bachelor of Information Technology/Laws student has been training upon his return from a string of successful performances in Kazan, Russia at the Summer Universiade (also known as the World University Games).
Instead of feeling disadvantaged by his late call up to the squad, Hough believes that his last four weeks have him primed for his full senior national debut.
“I showed that I was in good form at the World University Games. I’ve been training hard in the last two weeks and I’m ready for it. And now I have something to aim for in the next two weeks.”