Rio de Janeiro, July 29 (IANS) Five-time world player of the year Jamie Dwyer believes that the Australian menâs hockey team must play to its full potential if it is to replicate the gold medal success of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
At 37, Dwyer will become Australiaâs oldest ever hockey Olympian when he steps out against New Zealand on August 7.
And, he admits, he is still as excited as ever about the Olympic Games, despite Rio 2016 being his fourth appearance on the worldâs biggest stage.
âI canât do anything about my age. I feel good. Iâve had a pretty good last couple of years and now Iâm looking forward to getting stuck into the tournament and seeing how we go," Dwyer was quoted as saying by the Rio Games official website.
âWhen you come into the village you get a lot of excited guys and Iâm one of them. Even although Iâm the oldest I still get very excited.â
The scorer of the golden goal at Athens 2004 that earned the Australian menâs hockey team their one and only Olympic gold medal to date, Dwyer acknowledges that Australia must fulfil their potential with at least four other serious contenders for the top prize.
âIt would be great to win a gold medal. One of the main focuses for us is to improve throughout the tournament and play to our potential.
âWe all know, and we all believe, that if we play to how we know we can play weâre going to be a tough team to beat.
âIn saying that, Germany, Holland, Great Britain and Belgium I believe are all realistic chances of winning a gold medal. But if we play our best, which Iâm hoping weâll do, the outcome will take care of itself,â he added.
