Montag wins bronze for Australia in Paris
When asked in another Channel Nine interview the day after the race, what her message would be for young girls who watched it, Montag said, “Play on is my message!”
When her dream of achieving a podium spot was fading at the 15km mark in the Paris heat, Jemima Montag drew on the memory of her late grandmother and Holocaust survivor Judith, and a chorus of encouragement from family and friends, to find an extra gear, and win an Olympic bronze medal on Thursday in the women’s 20km race walk.
The 26-year-old Maccabi Athletics Club life member – who’d come sixth in her Olympics debut in Tokyo – slashed 44 seconds off her own PB and Oceania record time to finish in 1:26:25, becoming only the second female Australian to win an Olympic medal in that event since Athens 2004, when Jane Saville claimed bronze.
Then, in a classy gesture that reflected her values, she went to the aid of exhausted runner-up, Spaniard Maria Perez – who’d finished just six seconds in front of her – lifting her arm over her shoulder to prevent her from falling, and making sure she had water to drink.
Montag had been back in fifth spot in the 37-strong field – well behind eventual winner Yang Jiayu (1:25:54) from China, who’d broken away early on in a masterful move – when she began to experience a real moment of doubt.
At that point, she was 20 seconds behind Perez.
Wearing, as always, a bracelet that was made of part of a necklace that Judith had given her three granddaughters, Montag revealed after the race that at the 15km mark, “I really questioned my desire for a medal, and then I heard my [youngest] sister [Andie] scream with a crackling voice – ‘this is your race’ – and then I thought, okay . . . maybe”.
“Then at about the 17km mark, I could see third and fourth, and it was just a matter of committing to that last 3km.
“It was so good to have them [family] on the sidelines, in their [team Jem Australia] t-shirts, at that critical point in the race.
“I was really proud of my toughness in the final kilometres.
“It feels like a dream come true to say that I’m an Olympic medallist, and the first since Jane.”
Reflecting on her special bracelet, Montag said, “It certainly gave me strength out there”.
“This [Paris] is the city my nana and her father sought refuge in after the Second World War”, having survived unimaginable horrors at Auschwitz, and a death march in the freezing snow.
“She is always with me, and Paris was a very special place for her.
“Nanna had a great resilience, a toughness, that she passed onto my dad, and he has instilled that in my sisters and I.
“That’s absolutely what you need to get through a gruelling race walk.
“If she [Judith] was here [today], I would tell her I am not taking this for granted.
“I thank her for her courage, and I hope I’ve made the most of it.”
Another asset up Montag’s sleeve was not only her physical preparation for competing in the humidity and heat of Paris, but her mental preparation, and sense of perspective.
“I had a real sense of calm, and a sense of wanting the medal, but not needing the medal – and that’s a critical difference.”
“It was like, I’m ready and willing and able to be tough and give it a crack, but I don’t need it to feel worthy . . . and if it didn’t happen, the sun would still rise tomorrow.
“So, that was a good mindset to go in with.
“The bronze feels like gold!”
Her dad, Ray – in an emotional roadside post-race interview live on Channel Nine’s broadcast, said, “I’m very proud, and super happy for her, and all the team, who have put in so much effort”, adding that included her mum Amanda, who he said, “certainly deserves half of that medal”.
“This is a great moment for Jemima, as no matter what happens going forward, she’s always going to be an Olympic medallist.
“But I’m proud of her as an entire person,” he said of his daughter, who is halfway through a degree in medicine, and is an International Olympic Committee Young Leaders Program member, who founded the ‘Play On’ project being rolled out across Victoria, which aims to encourage girls to participate in, and stick with, playing sport.
“The athletics is just one aspect of her – it’s a big aspect – but she’s got so many strings to her bow.”
Amanda added, with pride, that it came as no surprise that her daughter came back from fifth place to earn bronze.
“She is so tough, and she wouldn’t give up that easily!”
Among Montag’s 30-strong supporters cheering along the course were Maccabi Victoria Athletics Club president Len Bogatin, his wife Yvette, and club life members David Grace, and Harry Procel, and his wife Robyn.
While back in her home town of Melbourne, at a Maccabi event at Elsternwick Cinema, many members of the club in which she began Little Athletics with as a seven-year-old, watched a live broadcast of her race on the big screen.
When asked in another Channel Nine interview the day after the race, what her message would be for young girls who watched it, Montag said, “Play on is my message!”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re doing sport for fun in your backyard with your girlfriends, or whether you want to take it to this Olympic medallist level.
“Sport is about community, and a sense of belonging, making friends, looking after your physical and mental health, and learning amazing life skills, like dedication and leadership,” she said.
“So, play on, in your own way!”
Montag still has one more event to come in Paris, when she will be in one of Australia’s two teams in the inaugural Olympic marathon mixed relay race walk, from 3:30pm (AEST) on Wednesday, August 7, in which she will walk two 10km legs.
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