Athlete lets flight to Australia leave without him after call
A GUERNSEY athlete blighted by injury throughout his career had his last chance of competing in the Commonwealth Games snatched from under him hours before he was due to fly to Australia.
Tom Druce, who was set to compete in the 4x400m relay, received a call from teammate Sam Wallbridge at 4.30am on Sunday, to say he had fractured his collarbone which ruled him – and also the relay team of which Mr Druce was a member – out of the Games.
The Guernsey Athletics development officer had just two hours to decide whether to travel to Australia as one of the team leaders.
Things went from bad to worse for him as the 8.30am flight to Guernsey he transferred onto was then cancelled, leaving him stuck at Manchester Airport with 30kg of luggage in tow for more than 12 hours.
‘Sam knew I was due to fly over that morning and he wanted to get hold of me as soon as possible to tell me about the injury,’ said Mr Druce.
‘It was 4.30 and it was all a bit of a daze. I was still half-asleep and it came as a bit of a shock.’
With an 8.30 flight to Brisbane booked with a 6.30 final check-in time, he knew he had to make a quick decision.
‘I genuinely didn’t know what to do. I was going officially as an athlete in the relay, but as the development officer I was also picked on the basis of being a team leader, so there was a question as to whether I should be going anyway in a professional capacity,’ he said.
‘I really wanted to go with the boys and do the best we could do, although I knew what the situation was.
‘You need visas and accreditation and we didn’t have a reserve named. There was nothing we could realistically do at that late stage.’
After talking it through with the Commonwealth Games management team, the final decision was left up to him.
Not being selected for the Games 12 years ago had weighed on his mind.
‘I should have gone to Australia for the Commonwealth Games in 2006. I was 19 at the time, I had achieved the qualifying standard, but the selection panel didn’t pick me, and going back to Australia there was a feeling of my career going full circle, but it clearly wasn’t meant to be,’ he said.
Given that he will be 35 come the next Commonwealth Games, he acknowledged it was probably his final chance to compete in a major competition.
‘That certainly went through my mind at the time, but in the end I went with my gut instinct and I think it was the right thing to do.’
With a four-year-old daughter, he said going away ‘was quite a wrench anyway’ and he would rather be at home with his family regretting not being in Australia than the other way around.
‘It was all a bit surreal. It came right down to the last moment and I was sitting opposite the check-in desk when I finally decided not to go,’ he said.
‘My 8.30 back to Guernsey was cancelled and I was at the airport for more than 12 hours. I had 30kg of luggage on me so I couldn’t really go anywhere.
‘I had a long time to sit there and reflect on everything and put it into perspective.’
More on the Sam Wallbridge injury
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