Squash at the Olympics: What the legends think

In their prime, there is little doubt that Michelle Martin and Sarah Fitz-Gerald would have been competing for places on the Olympic podium. While their professional careers have come to a close, it is hard to hold back their excitement at the opportunity being presented to today's leading players.

Q: What does it mean to you to hear that the best Squash players in the world will now have the opportunity to compete for Olympic glory?
Sarah Fitz-Gerald: This is amazing news. I am so over the moon our players get to shine in such a huge sporting arena and show the world their athleticism and skill.

Michelle Martin: I’m so excited to hear it’s finally in. This just gives us extra exposure and with so many countries now having that target in mind, it just gives us a much broader reach - it’s fantastic.

I look at these kids that have just come out of The Australian Junior Championships, some of them might have been going ‘what next?’ Some of them might be saying ‘I’m going for this, I want to do this - this is my sport, I want to make it a career’, but they ‘um’ and ‘ah’ because it doesn’t have that extra carrot. Now there’s possibility of going to an Olympics.

Q: What would it have meant to you to compete at the Games in your heyday?
Fitz-Gerald: To have had the opportunity to experience and play in an Olympic Games and add a medal to the trophy cabinet would have been the icing on the cake. My time has gone, but looking forward to watching our future players and nations develop and grow.

Q: What will this mean for Squash in Australia, not just for our elite players, but for juniors and participation overall?
Fitz-Gerald: I certainly hope it means some more opportunities for players, coaches, past players and venues to grow, develop and spread the love of our sport once again. This is our time... we need to massively embrace it.

Martin: I think it’s so exciting for our sport. I get excited not only for the athletes but the coaches as well that are involved. There’s so much of a flow on with this. People like Stewart Boswell and Jenny Duncalf, they’ve got great vision anyway but the fact is now you’ve got this extra incentive that enables you to get really excited about things.