He was hardly a virtual unknown, but he was considered no chance in the 1,500m at Atlanta. But while race favourite Daniel Kowalski was hit by the Olympic pressure, Perkins produced and won the gold medal. The world championships are easy. The Commonwealth Games . . . The Pan Pacs . . .
All meets are easy compared to the Olympics.
It's like comparing the Melbourne Cup to race five at Oodnadatta on a Friday afternoon. And there is the potential for that to happen again here in Sydney. The Olympics are totally different to anything else. Everybody wants to win and it doesn't matter what country the Olympic Games are in, everybody is just as prepared and everybody wants it just as bad. I often tell people what happened in 1992.