Trinity’s Comm Games trio set to shine

Trinity’s triple treat of Tokyo Olympians – Ollie Hoare, Rohan Browning and Sam Fricker – are all set to strut their stuff at the Commonwealth Games beginning in Birmingham on Friday.

The Trinity community following their exploits at home will have plenty of time to settle into Games viewing, however, before the three Trinitarians enter competition next week.

Sprinter Rohan Browning (Class of 2015) will be the first up, looking to get his campaign off to a solid start in round one of the 100m next Wednesday night Sydney time.

He ran the second-fastest time ever by an Australian, and shocked former world champion Yohan Blake, at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

He bowed out in the semis in Tokyo, and will be looking to make the final in Birmingham.

But he faces tough opposition in Canada’s Olympic bronze medallist Andre de Grasse, Briton Reece Prescod, South African Akani Simbine, Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati and Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon.

Ollie Hoare (2015), a 1500m finalist in Tokyo, smashed the Australian mile record in Norway recently in a performance which put him 13th on the all-time mile list.

He missed out on a finals berth at the just-completed World Championships in Oregon, so will be looking to make amends in Birmingham when he begins his campaign in round one of the 1500m on Friday, August 5 (AEST).

Sam Fricker (2020) faces a hectic program in which he takes on three events.

He will compete in the 10m platform diving, as he did in Tokyo, as well as the 3m springboard, both individual and synchronised.

His partner in the synchronized event will be Chinese-born veteran Li Shixin, a world championships gold medallist in 2011.

That event, a straight final, will mark Sam’s first appearance in Birmingham, on Friday night, August 5 (AEST).

“Sam is in good spirits and excited to compete,” said his mum Toni before flying to England to watch him in person after the faraway frustrations of the COVID-hit Olympics.