Whilst they may be over 5,000km apart, Evania Pelite and the Aussies women's Sevens side are confident their extensive training in Darwin and Townsville will help them back up their Rio heroics.
The Aussies will kick off their tournament on Thursday morning against Japan, with hot and humid conditions expected throughout the tournament.
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This has caused major havoc across the Olympics so far, with tennis superstar Novak Djokovic leading a chorus of complaints about the stifling heat.
However, Pelite is confident they will be ready for the tough conditions, revealing their pre-Olympic trips to Darwin and Townsville last month have been perfect to help acclimatisation.
“Darwin was probably the best practice that we had,” Pelite said before Tokyo.
“When we got over there, it was hot and humid, which is exactly the conditions we’ll face when over in Tokyo.
“Townsville was also awesome because we got to play in that heat exposure but I think we’ve done everything that we could to help us acclimatise.”
The 26-year-old is one of five returning players from the triumphant Rio team, joining co-captains Sharni Williams and Shannon Perry, Emma Tonegato and Charlotte Caslick.
Pelite has stepped up as a mentor for some of the younger players, with the likes of Maddison Levi and Tia Hands set for their Sevens debut at Tokyo.
With the Games delayed by a year, she believes this has allowed the next generation of Sevens superstars to accelerate their development to be ready for the big stage.
“It’s been incredible to see their journeys even from 12 months ago,” she admits.
“They were probably on the cusp of making the team and now they’ve made it. They’ve all worked their buts off and we’re all really proud of them.
“All the girls who have been to Rio and won the gold are trying to prepare them and they know they can come to us with anything they need and we’ll help them.
“That 12 months or training, COVID restrictions and being in that bubble pushed them to the absolute limits mentally and physically so it was great to see their mentally shift and now they’ve earned the right to participate at the Olympics."
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They enter the tournament under the guidance of John Manenti, who took over as head coach from Tim Walsh shortly after Rio.
She believes Manenti gives the comparatively shorter side an edge, particularly around set-piece time, as they prepare to face the likes of Japan and the USA.
“Johnny’s great. The girls really look to him for a lot of advice and he’s a great set piece coach so we’ve been working a lot on that,” she said on Manenti.
“Teams have looked at us in the past as one of the smaller teams so we don’t want to give them an edge over set piece.
“He’s great to have around the girls, his door is always open and I know the girls really respect that and him.”
