GOLD COAST: Australia's Mitchell Starc is a well-known sportsperson in India. Not his brother, Brandon, though. On Wednesday, Brandon, participating for Australia in the high jump final, managed to win gold (India’s Tejaswin Shanker finished sixth). In the stands, close to where Brandon was enacting a dream, two figures were sitting quietly.
One was his mother, Julia May, and the other, his personal coach, Alex Stewart.
Stewart, however, was wearing a Malaysian team jacket. As accreditation quota for Australia was over, Stewart, who is also coaching Malaysia, had come to the stands. “I feel really good to call myself a CWG gold medallist,” said Brandon, the younger of the two.
Though Mitchell was not there, he said he loved everything about Mitchell.
“What he’s done is incredible but to put my name down there, it’s a good feeling.” Mitchell couldn’t come to the stadium as he had ‘some scans the other day’. After clinching gold, the 24-year-old ran towards Stewart and May.
“As a mother, I always gave them (Brandon and Mitchell) what they wanted and I supported them in every way,” May said. On whether she had to deal with sibling rivalry, she said: “They didn’t have such a rivalry, just little things that brothers do. But Brandon always had the thing that he was the first among the two to represent Australia.”
Traffic rules Unlike other Australian cities, jaywalking is a serious offence here.
If the cops catch you, they will reprimand you. If you act too smart, you might even land a fine (from A$100). The footfall around the Broadbeach tram station (both North and South) areas is very high, especially during events.
Earlier when the Games started, most of the pedestrian crossings around that area just had lights to guide visitors.
At times, people quietly used to cross the road, even when lights were red. In front of the trams! Queensland Police were forced to post cops during rush hour.
“We have been posted to bring about some kind of sanity,” said one cop posted in Broadbeach South. There have been occasions when scribes too were warned by the authorities.
