The Switch, The Future & The Woman - Bendere Oboya

It was hard to believe that the Adelaide Invitational a few weeks' back was Bendere Oboya's debut 800m, where she ran 2:02.88 for the win in a front-running performance. It was everything that we associate with Bendere - grace, poise, confidence, and ultimately, winning - but across double the distance.


Bendere en route to winning her debut 800m at last month's Adelaide Invitational (credit: Athletics Australia)

"My first race in Adelaide was great. I just wanted to get the first race out of the way & just get a feel of the 2 lap. It was fun & I’m excited to do it all over again in Sydney," reflects Oboya.

And the goal for Sydney? "The race plan will be whatever my coach Justin says but of course the goal is to win."

It appeared from first glance that the decision to switch from the 400m, where she had won 31 of her last 32 races domestically, to the 800m came after the Tokyo Olympics. However, Bendere knew internally most didn’t.

“The decision to want to double the distance began before Tokyo. With Sydney in Lock down post Tokyo I wanted to get stuck right into it. Straight from my quarantine room I moved to Melbourne to train with Justin Rinaldi. We’re given who knows how long to be the best athlete you could ever be. I had an honest chat to myself, but I also had to back myself.”

And back herself she is – with some historic goals ahead of her for 2022, including making both the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships teams.

If she were to achieve this, it sets up an incredible possibility of Bendere representing Australia across two different distances at an Olympic Games, a World Championships, and a Commonwealth Games within the space of 12 months – a feat that would surely go unrivalled for a very, very long time.

Bendere in action at last year's Tokyo Olympic Games in the 400m (credit: Getty Images/Athletics Australia)

But perhaps most importantly, “success for me in 2022 looks healthy – having fun, and enjoying learning a new distance”.

And as the conversations of Paris 2024 start to inevitably get louder; “2-3 years is still a long way and anything can happen during those times. To build & continue to get stronger and faster leading into those next few years is the goal, Paris is the goal.”

Training with the likes of Peter Bol & Joseph Deng as part of the Fast8TrackClub, run by Justin Rinaldi, Bendere has fit in perfectly with the training philosophies and the group culture in the Melbourne-based high performance middle-distance squad.

“A day in Fast8TrackClub looks like a group of athletes working hard together to achieve some goals. Justin as a coach is great, he understands and has all the key things I’ve always wanted in a coach. What better way to get the most out of hard sessions then training with a bunch of guys. l’m the only girl in Fast8TrackClub, but I kind of like it.”

"Only person I want to outdo is myself" (Bendere Oboya, 2021 - from @_bendere, her personal Instagram)
 

We couldn’t say goodbye to Bendere before asking her about today – International Women’s Day – and what it means to her.

“International Women’s Day screams women empowerment, a movement and a day to recognise & celebrate Women. Regardless of the age, background or ability it is so important to show young female athletes that they can be anything they want to be. I would love to see more females going from girls to women in this sport or just having a go! Women has come a long way in sport but we still have a long way to go, it can all start with a little encouragement.”

You won’t have to wait long now to see many inspiring, strong, incredible women, including Bendere, descend on one of the capitals of Australian Athletics – the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre.

Make sure you secure your tickets for this Saturday’s Sydney Track Classic - https://www.ticketebo.com.au/sydney.track.classic