Brendan Cole and Lauren Boden will represent Australia in the 400m hurdles. They work well as training partners. They have even dabbled in an off-track comedy routine with Brendan’s alter ego, ‘Greg’. Both Lauren and Brendan are first time Olympians, Lauren at age 23 and Brendan at 31.

Brendan Cole’s athletic career has been one of ups and downs, with a 12 year relationship with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on and off scholarship. His love of running has never waned and essentially if his career was categorised in one word it would be ‘perseverance’. In being asked about his thoughts of the AIS he says

‘It’s been really up and down ... they’ve just been really, really supportive and beyond what their job is as an institute and what they do. So to come to this point now and have the full support, it’s really fitting I think that I’m on board with them and they’re on board with me and we’re just sort of doing this together.’

Brendan says his training regime has never been harder and he is looking forward to a strong performance in London, but as this is likely to be his only Olympic event he also wants to savour every moment.

‘Just being able to represent your country at such a high level is going to be such an amazing honour and something that we cherish. Hopefully it won’t go too quick as well, I think just enjoying the whole thing is going to be the best part about it all.’

Lauren Boden’s performance improved considerably in 2010, with a number of personal bests. More recently Lauren has run the 400M hurdle with a personal best time of 55.25. A ‘Little Athletics’ participator from age five and local Canberran, the transition to the AIS looked seamless, especially after she was the youngest to win a national hurdling title in 2005. At only 23 Lauren is certainly on the cusp of achieving the ultimate.

Lauren feels strong and well prepared and importantly has remained injury free.

‘Being part of the AIS definitely helps to keep my body in check. They’ve been really good at educating us as athletes on how to prevent injuries ... making sure that we’re getting physio, getting massage, getting the right recovery that we can.’

As a first time athlete, Boden, like Cole is looking to soak up every morsel of the Olympic experience

‘I’m probably most looking forward to the village, the atmosphere and getting to mingle with lots of athletes from all different countries ... I know that running in front of 80,000 people is going to be really exciting and I just can’t wait to see how fast I can run.’

With such positive attitudes and sound results many Australians will be cheering Brendan Cole and Lauren Boden.