Too busy to let his hair down

WARREN KEIR_SMP IMAGES

MATT Davies is hoping it will be his times, not just his hair that will stand out at this year's Commonwealth Games.

The Daisy Hill born and bred sprinter is Australia's only selected 200-metre runner for the Games.

This will be the 25-year-old's first Commonwealth Games of his burgeoning athletics career.

And he intends to look his best.

Just days before leaving Australian shores for London to compete on the European circuit in the lead-up to Delhi, Davies revealed to The Reporter he would be switching back to his flamboyant platinum blonde spiked hair.

Despite the real prospect of his nickname “Boy Band” resurfacing, Davies perhaps hopes the striking similarity with gold could be a strong omen for him at the Games.

“It's still my favourite part (my haircut) and it's what I like to be known for,” he admitted.

“It's a little out of sorts of the moment

“I got my nickname from that so I'll prep that up before I leave for overseas and make sure its pretty special for when the Commonwealth Games come around.”

Remarkably Davies' decision has got the approval from his coach Brett Jones.

Jones had no qualms with what hair style Davies sported at the Games, even going as far as saying Davies' final decision could be vital to his athlete's medal chances.

“It's all part of the confidence of a sprinter – look good, feel good, run good I say,” Jones said.

“If he (Davies) has a haircut that makes him feel better, hopefully that boosts his confidence.

“Confidence plays a major part in sprinting.

“Races can be won in 100ths of a second so every bit helps.”

After returning to the sport in 2008 after a two-year absence, Davies has enjoyed a rollercoaster build up to the Commonwealth Games.

In 2009 he enjoyed amazing success, winning two medals at the 2009 Australian Championships and named in the Australian World Championship team.

He hit a purple patch earlier this year when he recorded personal best times in both the 100m and 200m during training.

But Davies' good fortune quickly turned into heartache when he suffered a slight hamstring tear during his silver-medal 100m run at the Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games selection trials in Perth in April.

Despite being forced to withdraw from the 200m, Davies was still regarded by selectors as Australia's best medal chance over that distance at the Games.

He was also named in the men's 4x100m relay squad.

Davies was declared fit just before leaving the country.

A laid-back character, who tries to relax himself before races by telling jokes and perform magic tricks, Davies said he is not putting any expectations on himself at the Commonwealth Games.

But that doesn't mean he won't be challenging himself to go as fast as he has ever gone before.

“I don't look to set an expectation, it's always easy to fall short and be very disappointed with what you do,” he said.

“With what I've achieved this year my approach has been to take it as it comes and I know what I have to do to run fast and hopefully successfully. If everything goes to plan it can be quite successful, but I will be taking it one step at a time going through the rounds and hopefully come back with a really good story, that's the plan.

“It's possible (a medal), anything is possible when you get it right. Sally McLellan has shown us before on the day anything can happen. I'll plan to be at my best on the day and if anything happens I could definitely end up on that podium.”