At a gym in the garage of a property in Sunbury, you’re likely to find not one but two of Australia’s Commonwealth Games athletes hard at work training.
Judo player Ivo Dos Santos and wrestler Stevie Kelly, who train together in Thomastown, were named in the Australian team two weeks ago.
Dos Santos also competed in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“It was pretty exciting and nerve-wrecking,” Dos Santos said of the wait for the official announcement of his selection for Glasgow.
“It was very different to London, as qualification for the Olympics was on world ranking.
“For the Commonwealth Games you have to be the best in Australia and compete in every competition in Australia.”
The 28-year-old is seeded second in the 66kg category in Glasgow behind England’s Colin Oates, who is ranked fifth in the world.
“I lost to him in the first round at the Olympics by the smallest of margins, so I should be a medal chance,” Dos Santos said
Kelly’s rise to the Australian wrestling team has been a quick one.
“She came down from Katherine to Melbourne and we were training in the same place for judo and she became like my little sister,” Dos Santos said.
“She went home for 2010-11 and then decided she wanted to come back to Melbourne.
“She was training at my gym in judo and then came to wrestling training with me and pretty quickly was competing in both wrestling and judo.”
Kelly, 20, soon won the Australian and Oceania wrestling titles.
“She is a realistic medal chance [in Glasgow] as the competition is not as deep as for the men,” Dos Santos said. “The second-ranked person in the world is from New Zealand and Stevie beat her in the Oceania championships.”
Kelly has been living with Dos Santos and his wife in Sunbury for the past four months.
“Stevie couldn’t afford to live elsewhere and still train for the Commonwealth Games, so she moved in with us,” Dos Santos said.
“I have a bit of a gym at home and we’re good training partners as we’re about the same size.”
