In May the Australian P
rime Minister released a three-stage road map to guide Australia out of COVID-19 lockdowns across the state and territories, with a view to re-opening Australia. These stages to be instituted by each state and territory at a pace they deem relevant for their jurisdiction’s circumstance.
For Russel Taib it was good news as this month the first stage allowed athletic tracks to reopen in a limited capacity and gatherings of several people in public places.
Which has meant a return these last few weeks to more regular training sessions with lead coach Denise Boyd and a limited number of squad mates. A much missed experience and benefit for ongoing progression. Hopefully it can all keep progressing in the right direction for us all.
Perhaps unique to an Australian training experience, Russel encountered a brand new type of “training partner” and tough opposition, as the comfortable hopping speed for a kangaroo is about 21–26 km/h (13–16 mph), but speeds of up to 71 km/h (44 mph) can be attained over short distances!
In all seriousness though – great to be back at squad training at the track’s and good to see the native wildlife on the comeback too given that over 1 billion animals were feared dead in recent devastating Australian wildfires, according to the experts.