Torquay coach achieves Comms Games success

TORQUAY cycling coach Adam Kelsall had the ultimate moment of jubiliation during the Commonwealth Games, watching one of his athletes Zoe Cuthbert win a silver medal in the mountain bike discipline.

The Surf Coast native was full of excitement and held back tears last week, sitting up at 1am on his couch to see the 21-year-old athlete take home her first medal in her inaugural games experience.

 

After a successful move into coaching from a professional riding career that included competing against Cadel Evans, Kelsall wanted to use his knowledge of the sport and its psychology to help others.

Upon coming across Cuthbert for the first time after being selected on the performance coaching team for the world junior championships, Kelsall said he could see from afar the talent and determination the youngster showcased.

“Without a coach in both world junior championships in Switzerland and Canada respectively, Zoe finished 20th and then 5th in the world which was an outstanding effort,” Kelsall said.

“Due to her success, she was then categorised by the AIS which is part of identifying and giving athletes in Australia the support they need to be successful.

“Part of being categorised is that you need to enlist a coach and luckily enough she reached out to me, and we exchanged what type of people we were and how we could best work together.”

Kelsall said his philosophy around coaching is relational, targeted at improving athletes’ wellbeing and performance through having strong and positive relationships.

“I remember saying to Zoe that the relationship between the coach and the person is the most important thing and that we needed to communicate and have a strong rapport so that trust could be built over time,” Kelsall said.

“It’s a pretty big thing to have someone tell you what to do with your life for a couple of hours of each day.”

Fast forward through three years of training and preparation, Cuthbert would land in Birmingham for her first Commonwealth Games experience.

“When she got to Birmingham, we were just chatting about how exciting it was to get her uniform and to be there with the Australian team, “Kelsall said.

“We never spoke about a goal, or position or a medal, we just wanted to concentrate on how to go faster on the course.

“The result in the end was absolutely amazing, she ended up riding such a mature race that made us so proud.

“There were a few tears and certainly plenty of fist pumps and hugs when we saw her go across the line.

“It was an incredible moment; life is full of these amazing moments, and this was certainly one of them.”

 

By taking Cuthbert’s success at the Commonwealth Games as a fuel for further pathways, Kelsall hopes Australia will continue to provide rich opportunities for their cyclists in all domains.

“As a result of Zoe’s medal and other successes like Sam Fox, I hope that the pathway can become better for our cyclists and that people realise that Australian riders can be successful on the world stage.”