A couple of medal detectors

By Paul Pickering
ILLNESS and injury have plagued Berwick athletes Terry and Emma Baldwin, but those struggles made the pair’s success at last week’s World Masters Games even sweeter.
The husband-and-wife duo returned from the Sydney event with six medals in their luggage – the rewards of a successful week on the international stage.
For 31-year-old Emma, an impressive haul of five medals was another act of defiance against Q Fever; the debilitating illness that almost ended her athletics career.
Emma finished second to Olympian Tamsyn Lewis in the 800m at the Victorian Athletics Championships in 2007, before being struck down by the rare illness.
The symptoms of muscle pain, fatigue and extreme sensitivity to light left her bed-ridden until the correct diagnosis and treatment were found.
Her steady return to health culminated with individual medals in the 200m (silver), 100m and 800m (both bronze) events in the 30-34 age group last week, then gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
The gruelling schedule left her spent but content on Monday.
“It was a long and tiring week, but very successful,” she said.
“I was really happy with the 100m and 200m, because I don’t usually excel in those events.
“I would’ve liked to have done better in the middle distances, but, because of the illness, I don’t really have the endurance in my legs to run as fast as I used to.”
Despite running personal-bests in the sprint events, Emma is reluctant to set any demanding performance-based goals. As she notes, it’s an achievement in itself for her to be competing.
“I’m obviously a long way off where I was at before (the illness), but I just enjoy it and think how lucky I am to be out there,” she said.
Terry, 46, who is Emma’s coach, knows how true that is. A late bloomer in the sport, he compiled an impressive list of accolades during his thirties – including a long-standing Masters world record – before falling victim to a series of soft-tissue injuries.
And he claimed a silver medal in the 100m hurdles last week, only to re-injure his troublesome Achilles tendon.
He withdrew from most of his other events, hoping to have one last crack in the 400m hurdles. But it wasn’t to be.
“I hit the lead at 270m and then just collapsed,” he said, frustrated but satisfied with his silver medal from earlier in the week.
Setbacks have rarely deterred the Baldwins, so another comeback could be on the cards at the Australian Masters Games in Perth next year.