Snowsill lock down
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
With around 17 days until the Olympic Games start Emma Snowsill has gone into athlete lock down.
Camp Snowsill has said no to all media requests to protect their girl from the pressures of the numerous media requests. Now before we start pushing the princess theme Emma Snowsill is definitely one of the most accomodating athletes in the world. Word is, it was not her decision to not speak to the media pre games but her coach and minders decided it was enough. With Emma being Emma she would try to make time for everyone and this was making her, according to reports, very fatigued.
So this is a good thing I've decided, Not only must Snowsill go into lockdown to conserve her energy and keep herself focussed it is a great sign for he sport that she has to do that. She would be the Olympic favorite alongside Gomez and with this comes both pressure and interest. Now here's the challenge. If Emma wins gold I would expect most organisations to make the most out of this publicity and name recognition to further the sport. But we are not talking about most organisations. The challenge to Triathlon Australia (TA) is for them to get maximum exposure from Snowsill (or any other athlete to get onto the podium). They did do such a great job when both Brad Kahlefeldt and Snowsill won gold at the Commonwealth Games. In front of 100,000 people this win was effectively turned into one day of glory. TA should think about offering advertising contracts to the likes of Snowsill in order for the sport to get more exposure. Or at least trying to assist them being involved in TA's own sponsors to help further the cause. The likes of Snowsill is a marketers dream. It is time we saw her on a billboard or two. All she has to do is win a gold medal in order to launch all this... sounds easy.
