4 minute read
Leadership
from Annual Report 2021
by MUSport
Leadership
Olympic Racewalker Jemima Montag Leads Much More Than Just Her Competition
After securing an impressive 6th place at the Tokyo Olympics, building on a Commonwealth Games gold in 2018 and top-10 finish at the 2019 World Track and Field Championships, many athletes might understandably look forward to some well-earned downtime. For Bachelor of Science graduate and incoming Melbourne Medical School student Jemima Montag, however, departing from Tokyo marked a long-awaited return to the classroom and an opportunity to re-engage her impressive leadership resume.
Jemima Montag has undertaken ambassadorial work alongside her training and academic commitments
Deferring her acceptance into the University of Melbourne’s Medical School in 2021, Montag made the decision to focus her energy exclusively on the Tokyo Olympics.
This dynamic focus is all part of what balance means to the racewalker. “Therein was an interesting lesson about ‘balance’ – which one may think means having equal amounts of everything, but I’d argue for the merit of allowing yourself to go all-in on something for a period of time,” she says. This decision paid off, with Montag battling through 32-degree heat and 70 per cent humidity during the 20-kilometre Olympic race to secure 6th place, recording her second fastest time ever. She explains that having this period as a full-time athlete allowed her to carry out the “one percenters”; sports psychology, remedial massages, prehabilitation exercises and maintaining a training journal are all activities that often get neglected when balancing training with the rigours of study, but serve to help athletes like Montag compete at their peak when the time comes.
However, Montag’s most impactful work might be away from the track and classroom. As one of 25 athletes in the International Olympic Committee’s Young Leaders Program, a previous ambassador for the Australian Institute of Sport’s Share a Yarn Initiative, and a member of the University’s Strong Women Network, her devotion to leadership is a strong rival to her athletic and academic successes.
The IOC’s Young Leaders Program involves global athletes, all of whom operate a sport-based social business that addresses a pressing local issue and links to one of the IOC’s Sustainable Development Goals. For Montag, her work within the program is tied to her e-resource ‘Play On’, a program available for local girls’ sports clubs that aims to improve women’s participation in sports through adolescence and young adulthood.
The Racewalker believes a focus on mental health, nutrition, female athlete health, and inclusivity is key to helping young female athletes navigate the challenges that often prevent continued participation in sport. “It is everything I wish I had access to as a 12 to 15-year-old girl,” she says.
Montag also uses her leadership prowess within the University. As part of her involvement with the Strong Women Network, she works with a group of like-minded women to discuss ideas and challenges they experience in the fields of academia and sport.
The Network connects current studentathletes with mentors from the University community who have experience in high-level sport. With an aim of enhancing participants’ leadership and vocational skills, as well as developing professional relationships and career pathways, the Network has proved an invaluable resource for Montag. “Women supporting women is one of the great forces in this world, and I look forward to being part of it ongoing,” she says.
Reflecting on the advice she would offer to the community’s future leaders, Montag shared her earlier perception that leaders operated on a platform of unwavering confidence and organisation. However, experience has led her to discover that it is “far more effective to lead alongside others, rather than in front of them”. The Olympian argues that true leaders understand the distinct skillsets individuals bring to a group, suggesting it is not the leader’s own confidence that is important, but rather “the confidence they can bring out in others that is their true superpower”.
Looking forward, Montag hopes to dedicate the next five years to completing her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health, which she plans to combine with her passion for food to pursue greater food security throughout Australia.
“If we scored well on the postcode lottery, we might just have enough of it,” she explains. “But the reality is that 3.6 million Australians are food insecure, and the pandemic has undoubtedly exacerbated challenges in this space.”
Montag will recommence her studies at the University in February, looking to again balance her coursework with an intense athletic regimen, eyeing success at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and World Athletic Championships in Oregon in 2022.
Jemima meeting with young students during a Raise the Bar program
