The Jerseyman – one of two Island representatives ending a 24-year Games hiatus for track athletics – will run in the highly competitive 800m heats on Australia’s east coast to give himself the best possible chance of achieving his target of reaching the 1,500m final.
The men’s 800m heats are due to take place on 10 April, and rather than continuing training Dorey will instead get himself accustomed to international competition routines ahead of the 1,500m heats on 13 April.
‘I would have been doing a similar training session [an 800m run] three or four days before anyway, so I’m going to use the 800m heats as experience,’ said Dorey. ‘And it will help me see exactly what the process is with warm-ups, the call room and the atmosphere in the stadium.
‘Obviously the 800m is not my main event and I’m not expecting to get through, but I will race to get through and I want to get a personal best. I think I can run 1 min 50 sec or quicker.’
A 1 min 49 sec-run at Glasgow 2014 would have been enough for a place in the 800m semi-finals, but Dorey will not sway from his premier goal.
‘My main focus is the 1,500m, and making the final of that,’ he said.
‘I’m pretty confident, everything’s going well. This is the most consistent period I’ve had in a long time – I’m lifting heavier than ever and running faster than ever.
‘Training has been going well and I still think the final is a realistic target. It just depends on positioning in distance racing.
‘There will be a lot of athletes with more experience and a lot will be quicker on paper, so it will be about positioning myself well in the heats to maximise what I can get out of it.’
Dorey, who broke Jersey Spartan AC’s long-standing 1,500m record last season, was added to Team Jersey on appeal in January, having initially been omitted by selectors.
The 23-year-old will be joined by fellow Caesareans Sam Dawkins [400m] and Zane Duquemin [discus] at the Carrara Athletics Stadium.
