Matt Shirvington, the athlete, attracted plenty of headlines. As a teenager breaking the Australian 100m record at the Commonwealth Games in KL in ’88. As a relay gold-medallist at the same meet. As a five-time national 100m winner. As a World Championships relay bronze-medallist in ’01. But perhaps the most popular headline of them all was the one he wished never existed. It appeared in many forms, but the gist was always the same: the great white hope, the first white man to break the ten-second barrier. It made him cringe then and still does today.

Matt Shirvington Post Race With Rival Patrick JohnsonImage: Getty Images

The headlines have followed Shirvington into retirement, but today he reads them instead of making them. His seat on the Sky News sports desk at Foxtel has proven a comfortable place for him to cool his jets post-career. These days he gets to watch the greats of the sporting world strut their stuff, just as he’ll be doing when the starting gun blasts at the IAAF World Championships in South Korea in August this year. It’ll be a familiar sound for Shirvo – he graced the world champs stage seven times.

We’re hurtling towards the World Champs in Daegu, South Korea. Which Australian athletes will bring home some track and field

medals? 

I think what Aussie fans are keen to see is Sally Pearson’s development in the 100m after watching her win at Delhi last year ... and then be disqualified. The Commonwealth Games isn’t the most competitive environment for sprinters, so she’s going to have to step up for the Worlds. The main questions will be: will she run the 100? How will she go? And how will it all affect her hurdles? She’s doubled up before. I think she has real talent as a 100m runner. Whether or not she focuses on training for it is another issue. They’re very different events: the starts, body positions, techniques. I’m really keen to see if she focuses on the 100m this year, with the idea of running it at London next year. Obviously Steve Hooker is keen to continue his dominance. He holds both indoor and outdoor world championship titles and has won the Olympic and Commonwealth Games titles twice in a row now. He’s been unbeatable at major championships for the last five years.

Can we safely assume you’ll be glued to the action on the track?

Sure will be. I think the 400m is wide open, with American LaShawn Merritt getting done for drugs last year. He was the world leader. It’s going to come back to Jeremy Wariner again, and others. Some of the Caribbean island athletes will figure again, and we’ll start to see a few more Americans come through.

What impresses you most about the already-legendary Usain Bolt, apart from his speed?

I met Usain when he was in Australia a few times, had a chat with him. I think the thing that strikes you most is how humble he is, how grounded he is. We had an open mic with him and a couple of other people when he was out here and one of the questions was, “What’s the highlight of your career?” This is after winning the 100 and 200 at Beijing, breaking the world records in the 100 and 200 and then going to the world champs the next year and breaking the 100m record again in an event he’d only competed in for three years, which is amazing. But he said, “My favourite moment was winning at the World Juniors, because it was in Kingston in Jamaica, in front of my home crowd.” And I thought, “That’s saying something about the character of this guy.”

Who are the modern-day Aussie Shirvos we should be keeping an eye on at the Worlds and beyond?

It terms of short sprinting, Aaron Rouge-Serret won the 100 and 200 at the nationals. He was a finalist at Delhi in the 100. Really, he’s streets ahead, in the 100m particularly. I think he won by over two-tenths of a second, which in the 100m is quite a lot. There’s a young kid, Nick Hough. He won the 110m hurdles at the Youth Olympics last year and he’s only 17 years old. He won national comps around Australia over the last summer season over the 200m and has shown some real talent. He’s quite a tall guy. He may not get a chance at South Korea, but I think you’ll see him in the future. He’s probably the most significant prospect in men’s sprinting in Australia at the moment

 What about our baton-passers at the Worlds ‒ how optimistic should we be there?

Our 4x400 relay team will be hoping to snatch a medal. They got bronze at the last World Champs. They’re not in the best shape they’ve been individually as athletes, but I think a lot of them have restructured their training and will look to do better midway through the year. You’ll see the same sorts of names who have been going well the last few years; Ben Offereins, John Steffensen, and another young kid, Steven Solomon, who won at the national championships. He’s only 17. He essentially beat the best guys in Australia, which is huge. It’s great to have that fresh blood. Success breeds success, which the 4x400 guys have proven since winning silver in 2004 and gold at the ‘06 Commonwealth Games.