Ali Abdo will jet off to Glasgow in a matter of weeks after qualifying for the Commonwealth Games.
The Altona North resident will represent Australia in freestyle wrestling.
Abdo secured his spot in the team after dominating his division at last month’s national championships in Canberra.
Competing in 86-kilogram lifts, the 33-year- old entered the tournament as one of the favourites and went on to win all his pool matches and the final.
With retirement possibly on the horizon, Abdo says he’s rapt to have made his first Commonwealth Games team.
“I’ve been around for a fair bit and for me this could be my final run,” he says.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself. I want to finish on a high.
“There was also pressure on me being one of the favourites in Canberra because everybody is out to get you.”
Despite not having competed in a Common- wealth Games before, Abdo has no shortage of experience on big stages.
After making his first Olympic team as a 19-year-old for the Sydney 2000 Games, he went on to compete at both Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, narrowly missing out on selection for London in 2012.
Abdo won the nationals and Oceania tournaments, making it to the final round of qualifying in Morocco. “I had to finish top two and I finished third,” he said. “I was a bit gutted … I wasn’t happy to just call it quits then. I wanted to finish on a high.”
Abdo predicts Canada and India will field strong teams in Glasgow.
He’s hoping to use his Olympic experience to fight his way onto the podium.
“I’ve competed with the tough nations before,” he said.
“For me, ideally I want nothing less than a podium finish.
“Any athlete wants to make sure that when they come away from a competition they know they’ve given it their best shot. Those two things really go hand in hand.”
