Sharon Callus is the talk of the Altona Bowls Club.
The late-blooming 62-year-old achieved her dream of competing for Malta at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and returned home with a well-earned bronze medal after finishing third in the fours.
Callus, who lives in Altona, has been a popular figure at the Civic Parade club in recent weeks, as members congratulated her on her success.
“When I came home, everybody was saying ‘Where’s your medal?’,” Callus said.
“They told me after winning it, try not to have everybody touching it because it’s powder-coated and really fragile, so it’s been put in a beautiful box.
“I took it down to the club and straight away somebody took it out.
“I’m happy for people to hold it, as long as they hold it by the ribbon because it’s pretty special.”
Callus, who has Maltese citizenship, teamed up with a Queensland-based mother-daughter trio to make up the team. Mother Rosemaree Rixon (second), Rebecca (lead) and Connie-Leigh (third) played alongside Callus to win five of their seven matches.
The quartet was eliminated from gold medal contention in a semi-final loss to South Africa, but re-grouped to beat Canada convincingly in the bronze medal game.
“I was lucky enough that my lead, second, all my team were fantastic,” said Callus, who skippered the side.
“I didn’t have to do a lot, but a couple of times there I got us over the line.
“It was absolutely fantastic being a part of the Commonwealth Games, something that you dream of. It was a really awesome experience.”
The chance to play in front of big crowds and massive television audiences provided a totally different atmosphere to that Callus is familiar with playing in Altona’s division 1 and Tuesday ladies sides.
“If you’ve got the crowd behind you, it’s great,” she said.
“You don’t really take too much notice because you’re too focused on playing the game. I don’t get nervous about anything in bowls. It’s not worth it.”
There was no prouder person watching in the grandstands than Callus’s husband, Lenny.
Lenny is no stranger to international competition, having represented Malta at three Commonwealth Games.
He was impressed with the tremendous amount of work Sharon has put into her game to get up to international standard.
“She’s been bowling for about eight to 10 years,” Lenny said. “You can’t just go and play these games without training. She’s really worked hard for it.”
Callus thanked Altona Bowls Club for its support throughout the journey to the Commonwealth Games.
