Source : ABC NEWS
We didn’t see a lot of cooperation between the Australian walkers in that 10,000m race despite making up half the field.
Elizabeth McMillen led for 22 of the 25 laps, with teammate Jemima Montag sitting on her heels for the entire time before burning past her with three laps to go.
“It was pretty windy out there so having to cop the wind for a good 23 laps was certainly not my plan but I’m proud of my efforts and I went as hard as I possibly could.
“But what can you do? That’s racing for you.
“I did look back a few times thinking ‘Are you gonna help out here?’, but no. I was the rabbit today, so what are you going to do?”
Montag said she had respect for silver medallist McMillen and bronze medallist Henderson, but there were no friends out on the track.
“Not in a race, in training absolutely, but in a race you have to be selfish. Unfortunately it’s an individual sport, not a team.
“If it was cycling or something with drafting, where you do change the lead around then absolutely. But as much as I would love to, sometimes you have to forget it’s a teammate that you care about and just remember it’s another competitor and it’s another body that in front of you and to ultimately be selfish.”
