It’s been mum’s the word up until now, but the secret to calming the nerves of Kiwi athlete and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Paul Coll is in fact his Mum’s word. And Dad’s too.
The parents of the 30-year-old Coll were on tenterhooks on Thursday morning as they watched on television as he battled it out on the squash court with Welshman Joel Makin in Birmingham 3-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7 to win his first gold.
“We are so proud and so happy,” said mum Julie Coll while celebrating with the family in Greymouth on the West Coast.
The family were at the 2018 Gold Coast games where Coll secured a silver medal, but this latest gold medal had always been his goal.
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“He wanted it so badly so, and it’s been very emotional,” said Julie.
“He was quite devastated when he got silver last time, so he really wanted that gold.”
The Coll family in Greymouth, from left: Alicia Wilson with Ardie, Ryan, Julie and Mike Coll.
The gold medal has capped Coll’s most successful year on the squash court. He defended his British Open title in April and is now ranked world number one.
But the win on Thursday didn’t look a sure thing earlier in the tournament. Coll’s mother admits they were all a little nervous about his form – not because he didn’t have the talent, but because his own expectations were threatening it.
“The pressure affected him early in the tournament. He was really struggling with the pressure of winning, he wanted it so badly,” she said.
“We had to talk to him and say, well, forget about the medal and just concentrate on what you are doing, one game at a time, one point at a time, and then it comes.”
Michael and Julie Coll have supported their son from the get-go, always backing him to get to the top.
So when she could see Coll was stressed leading in to the final, the three of them got on the phone.
Luke Walker/Getty Images
Paul Coll of Team New Zealand celebrates their victory in Men’s Singles – Gold Medal Match.
“Sometimes they just need to be able to talk to somebody who understands. He’s got mental coaches and that helps him a lot, but every now and again when the emotions are too much he will come to his father and me,” said Julie.
“Once he got back into his professional mode and got away from all the emotion of it, we could see he was on track.”
Watching from the living room at home wasn’t easy viewing, she said.
“Joel played so well, it was a real battle to win it.”
The gold medal is the Coll family’s proudest moment, and it seems Coll would agree.
After receiving his gold medal Coll declared it “one of the best moments of my life’’, but conceded he had had to “dig deep’’.
“It’s been amazing this week, it’s been on the top of my mind, I haven’t been able to turn my brain off,’’ Coll told Sky Sport.
“I couldn’t be more proud of myself. I was battling out there.”
Mum reckons there is more to come.
“He hasn’t won the world champs yet, and he would like to win the US Open, so there is still heaps to tick off.
“He is in the prime of his career, so there is plenty of time to do it.”
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