Heart of a Champion by Patrick Lindsay

from Hawaii. He raced in the Port Macquarie Triathlon, a selection trial for the 1990 Commonwealth Games, which were to be held in Auckland. Greg astonished his fellow competitors by coming second behind Spot Anderson. He surprised them even more when he lined up for the final Games qualifier in Wollongong against the cream of Australian triathletes—Brad Bevan, Steve Foster, Scott Anderson and Mick Maroney among them—and won by 2 minutes 30 seconds. Mick said: ‘He just smashed everyone and that was it. Everyone just thought, “Greg’s the king.”’
    Greg won a place on the Australian Commonwealth Games team, and went off to Auckland in 1990 with high hopes. The triathlon was early in the Games program. After another good swim, Greg was in a strong position on the bike, in the lead pack with Rick Wells, Brad Bevan and Mick Maroney, when he was caught in a big fall after one of the Aussies slipped. ‘I had the big crash right in front of Prince Edward. But I recovered and had a very fast run and made up a lot of ground. I actually ran into third, so I got a bronze medal, behind Rick Wells and Brad Bevan. The party started that very night.’
    Greg had built up a big head of steam during the tumultuous 12 months leading up to the Games, and he let off most of it in Auckland.
    â€˜We all partied hard every night on that trip. The first thing we’d do each morning was turn the television on and start watching the Games. We’d just be bagging the absolute crap out of the Kiwi commentators, who were so biased. Then we’d always go to some event, specially the swimming. Janelle Elford was one of our really good friends and she swam the 200-m (218.7-yd) freestyle relay, the 400-m (437.5-yd) and the 800-m (0.5-mile). Her nickname was Big Red. We’d go and watch Big Red swim, and then we’d all go out and have fun.’
    On the last night, Greg couldn’t wait to go out: Big Red never drank and it was their chance to help her let her hair down. ‘We went dancing. All the swimmers were up on the dance floor with the triathletes, and we had the best time. Julie McDonald, Janelle, Glen Houseman, Kieren Perkins and many others came, and we just had the time of our lives. Even when the Aussie boxers were there and getting into blues, it was huge fun. I didn’t want it to end because we were just having so much fun.’
    It had been an amazing 12 months in which Greg had made the transition from being a promising athlete in his sport to becoming one of the best in the world. After the heady European tour, with seven races in eight weeks against the world’s best, he had returned to Hawaii to take third place while still an age grouper, and then he topped off all that by winning the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. He had proved he was a genuine contender in any company.
    It was Arthur Blizzard who again brought things to a head. He was convinced the time was right for Greg to become a full-time professional. ‘He said, “You know what, Greg, you’ll never know unless you try it; your job’s always safe with us.” Because Arthur was a lovely person, with a great family, and because we had an exceptional relationship, I jumped at the opportunity.

‘I THINK THE REAL TRANSITION was to mould ourselves into PROFESSIONAL athletes, knowing THAT IT WAS OUR JOB and knowing that we didn’t have to go to a REAL , 9-TO-5 JOB.’

Chapter 7
The Pro
    I N THE MIDDLE OF M AY 1990, G REG FINALLY TOOK THE BIG LEAP . Buoyed by the encouragement from Arthur Blizzard, his family and his mates, he packed his bike, his dreams and AU$2500 in cash, and travelled with Brad Bevan to San Diego, California. They chose San Diego for two reasons: it was Triathlon Central, and Scott Tinley had invited Greg to train with him in his home town.
    Scott had befriended Greg in Hawaii at the 1987 Ironman. He was one of the sport’s originals and is still one of