Peter Maniaty
Much has changed for Australia’s elite cycling program since the disappointments of Tokyo. Following a wide-ranging review by AusCycling, one of the most significant moves was the appointment in February 2022 of Jesse Korf as Executive General Manager–Performance, filling the role that had been held since 2017 by Simon Jones.
As Korf continued to fine-tune Australia’s preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, we spoke exclusively during the Track National Championships in Brisbane.
Pete Maniaty: Jesse, you’re a busy man with Paris fast approaching. It’s Track Nationals this week, then what?
Jesse Korf: I’m actually heading to the USA to finalise our innovation strategy for 2028 (Los Angeles) and 2032(Brisbane). We’ll be visiting MIT, then spending some time with the Navy Seals in San Diego.
Pete: Just months out from your first Olympic Games in charge, and you’re already planning for the next two?
Jesse: The team itself is very much focused on Paris and the Olympic qualification events. But for me, personally, it’s about 50/50. If we want to be all we can be in Brisbane (2032 Olympic Games), we know we need to have the foundations in place early. Several years ago, the ambition within AusCycling was to set up a broad ten-year strategy for 2032, which gives us three Olympic Games, or three horizons, to get to that point. Thinking that way allows us to do things in a logical sequence and build towards 2032, rather than going through ‘rinse and repeat’ cycles, which has probably happened a bit in the past.
Pete: You mentioned MIT and the Navy Seals, two impressive organisations. Can you talk a little bit about those relationships?
Jesse: To compete at the highest level, we know we need to tap into our own IP and knowledge and all of the richness that exists in our system. But to really drive innovation, we also need to be having conversations around what does best practice look like, four or six years from now? That means engaging with other organisations who are leaders in their respective fields, to see how they might approach similar challenges to us, but maybe think a bit differently.
Pete: Switching back to 2024, how is everyone feeling leading into Paris?
Jesse: There’s certainly optimism, but also quite a bit of hunger because of what happened in Glasgow last year. The World Championships before an Olympic Games is usually your strongest indicator and we made some really big steps forward in Glasgow. We were very close in a couple of events, so there’s definitely a mix between excitement and anxiety, but in a healthy way, which is normal.
Pete: Speaking of anxiety, what kind of pressure are you feeling as the person ultimately in charge?
Jesse: I tend not to fuss about it too much. Yes, I’m responsible. But by the time we get to Paris, I’m not on a bike and neither are the coaches. We’re trying to help our athletes be the absolute best that they can be. We’ve set some very lofty goals and, at the end of the day, we’ll either make it or fall short. But that’s the thrill of sport. If all goes well, then it’s the athletes who will rightly get the attention. Hopefully that happens and we’re confident it might. If it doesn’t, then fingers get pointed at me. That’s fine, it’s part of the job.
Pete: Olympic success is never easy. Based on what you’re seeing and hearing, is it possible to quantify what ‘success’ looks like in Paris?
Jesse: Whether you’re an athlete or a coach, you always have to set goals that are within your own control. You can’t control what the competition does. For us it’s about setting goals that are highly aspirational, but still viable, and then trying to meet those goals or get as close as humanly possible. For some athletes, that might mean hunting for a gold medal. For others, it means a top five or a top eight. From an overall medal perspective?
It’s hard to say. I think a better way to think about it is we have some events with higher probability, others with medium probability, and some dark horses. You can also look at recent Olympic history. In Tokyo, for example, Australia won three cycling medals. In Rio, it was two. Prior to that, I think it was four. We’ve been hovering in the last decade and a half around that two to four mark. We certainly have the ambition to do better than that in Paris, but it’s always one (Olympic) cycle at a time.
Pete: Great Britain have dominated Olympic cycling for over a decade, especially on the velodrome. Will we see that again in Paris, or are you expecting a changing of the guard?
Jesse: I think the Brits will definitely be up there again. I’m also expecting a large step up from the French. In the last couple of years, they’ve been incredibly dominant in BMX and also mountain bike. I’d like to say we will definitely be closer, that’s certainly the goal. We have some amazing talent and a good number of medal hopefuls. But it’s also important to be realistic. We have about one third of the resources of the British and a little less than France. So, we can definitely be better than the last couple of Olympic cycles, I strongly believe we will be. But if we truly want to contest at the top of the medal table – where Australian cycling was in 2000 and 2004 – that would be a requirement (more resources). Right now, we have to be more strategic. Do we try and qualify the maximum number of athletes? Or are we trying to get maximum performance out of those with a genuine medal shot?
Pete: Much has changed for Australia’s elite cycling program since the Tokyo Olympics. What are some of the more significant reforms?
Jesse: The first is our strategy. There was a very intentional focus in the previous cycle to go deep and narrow on the track, which essentially meant we put all of our eggs into the track basket and did relatively little in the other disciplines. That’s been a big shift, because this time we’re taking a portfolio approach and supporting all of the disciplines. That doesn’t mean investment is equal across them all, but we are providing opportunity everywhere, so that looks quite different from Tokyo. That then trickles to the next change, which has been a big shift in our organisational structure to support the athletes and programs.
Rather than just thinking about six individual (cycling) disciplines, we now think about Endurance-based sports and Acceleration and Action-based sports. Acceleration and Action includes Track Sprint, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle. Endurance includes Mountain Bike, Road and Track Endurance. That’s certainly changed the way we approach many things. As an example, we’re seeing a lot of evidence that the best endurance athletes are typically competing at high levels in the professional space, so we have structures focused on trying to graduate our emerging athletes into professional teams and then bring them back for targeted camps and campaigns.
Pete: What will the Australian team set-up be like in Paris?
Jesse: Cycling has two competition sites. BMX Freestyle is being held in the heart of Paris (Place de la Concorde) and those athletes will be staying in the main Olympic Village, along with a team lead providing a conduit between the cycling program and the Australian Olympic Team. The rest of the team will be staying closer to the Saint-Quentin velodrome, where the Mountain Bike, BMX Racing and Track competitions are happening. Even though the Road events are starting and finishing in downtown Paris, it’s not very conducive from a training perspective, so those athletes will also be with us in the hotel outside of Paris. I’ll be the team lead at that location.
Pete: Including athletes, coaches and support staff, how big will the team actually be?
Jesse: Leading up to Paris, we have roughly 40 to 50 people working with our athletes—from coaches and operations staff to health, wellbeing and performance services. But for the Olympics themselves, all nations are strictly limited by quota spots. There’s always a bit of a tug-o-war between what we need versus what we can get. It means the day-to-day support team will be a lot smaller. For example, when we were in Glasgow for last year’s UCI World Championships we had 140 athletes across all of the disciplines. At the Olympics, we’re looking at somewhere in the mid-to-high 20s. We’ll have some support on site—coaches, analysts, medical staff and mechanics—and we’ll also have other specialists nearby providing additional services, remotely, as needed.
Pete: Given many of Australia’s top cyclists are riding for professional road teams, that must add a real layer of complication in terms of preparation?
Jesse: It’s definitely a balance and something we spend a lot of time thinking about. There are periods in each (Olympic) cycle where we don’t worry too much, and riders are free to chase their road aspirations. But for the endurance athletes who are keen for the Olympics, we require a certain amount of time spent with the National team in camp settings. To give you an example, Sam Welsford was back in Adelaide training with the track team in November and December 2023, prior to riding the Tour Down Under and then the UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide.
We work through these arrangements together with the athlete and their team, sometimes the athlete negotiates with the team directly. We also have staff based in Europe who come out to Australia between October and the end of January, and then move back to Europe when the athletes do. They’re the main link with the athletes and the pro teams, and in some cases, even embedded with the WorldTour teams. We have a great working relationship with Bora-Hansgrohe and, obviously, a really strong, integrated one with Jayco-AlUla.
Pete: Australia has qualified just three riders for the men’s and women’s road races in Paris. How does that influence athlete selection?
Jesse: For the road events, 95 per cent to 99 per cent of the UCI points that drive the National team quotas for the Olympics are earned by riders in their WorldTour teams – something we have very little influence over. The other complication for Paris is that our time trialers have to come from the same three riders. Again, it’s about asking where are the best probabilities from a performance perspective? We have a number of strong medal potentials such as Grace Brown who has been on the time trial podium at the last two World Championships.
Pete: There will be plenty of expectation on the likes of Grace Brown, Matthew Richardson and Logan Martin. Who are some of the other Aussies to watch out for?
Keep an eye on BMX and Saya Sakakibar. In the Men’s BMX, Izaac Kennedy is going well too, he won his first World Cup earlier this year.
Pete: Finally Jesse, what’s your message to Aussie cycling fans heading into Paris?
Jesse: On behalf of the entire team, I’d say a big ‘thank you’. We always get a lot of messages of support around the major championships and it doesn’t go unnoticed. Having that Aussie spirit and pride cheering us on is an extra edge. Australians are great at being fun, present and loud, so keep it coming! 
