Jemima Montag wins world silver medal
Drawing strength and inspiration from her late grandmother, who was a Holocaust survivor, Melbourne walker Jemima Montag has dug deep to claim the 20km silver medal at the world championships in Budapest.
Melbourne’s Jemima Montag celebrates after winning the silver medal in the Women’s 20-kilometre race walk final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The 25-year-old followed eventual gold medallist Maria Perez when the Spaniard made the decisive break from the lead pack at the 15km mark on Sunday morning in historic Heroes Square.
Having already received one red card, Montag had no intention of risking disqualification by chasing down Perez.
She chose instead to lock in the silver, making her Australia’s first female walking medallist at a world titles since Kerry Saxby-Junna in 1999.
And Montag had her grandmother Judith there in spirit every step of the way in the form of a bracelet on her left arm, which was previously part of her late relative’s necklace.
“I feel especially close to her, being in a country where a lot of Holocaust survivors came and were involved in,” she told reporters.
“She fled to Paris after the war (after surviving the hell of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp) and then came to Melbourne.
“We lost her just before the Tokyo Olympics, so it’s been a couple of years now.
“But this bracelet, when it moves up and down my arm, it’s just a direct, physical reminder each lap that ‘yes, this is hard, but what she went through, you can’t even compare’.
“One of the things that I wrote on my water bottles for my helper to read out to me was ‘no regrets’.
“Nana, and my grandpa went through indescribable torture for years to give my dad and then me an opportunity to give this life a crack.
“And I want to give it a crack.
“I don’t want to settle for fourth again like last year (at the world titles).”
Perez was a deserving gold medallist in one hour 26 minutes 51 seconds.
Montag set an Australian record of 1:27:16 and Italy’s Antonella Palmisano was third.
Montag is also a two-time Commonwealth champion who has been steadily building up to this breakthrough performance on the global stage, having finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics and fourth last year in Eugene.
“I’ve learned from the last few world champs and the Olympics that when that move is made at about 15 kilometres it’s the winning move,” said the Australian.
“The last three majors I haven’t had the training evidence or the self-belief or the technical backing to go with it.
“This year, our prep has been watertight; we’ve gone places we haven’t gone before in training.
“Speaking to my psych the last few days, the idea was just be willing to go for it, be willing to hurt in that last five.”
Rebecca Henderson was 33rd in 1:35:51 and the third Australian, Olivia Sandery, was disqualifed.
From: John Salvado in Budapest/AAP
Well done young lady.
Wonderful, Jemima! Kol HaKevod. And your words are an inspiration for any of us who think we have it tough.