The seventh leg of The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition ended in heartbreak when Matildas teammates Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik were eliminated.
The duo was out in front during the first stages of the global competition and at one stage seemed unbeatable.
Emily said the experience had been exhausting mentally.
“I found the fear of failure the most challenging, the anxiety around coming first every race day. Failure, for me, was not an option. I wanted to win at all costs… that was one of the most difficult things we had to deal with from a competitive aspect. No matter how competitive you are, sometimes things just aren’t going to go your way, even if you do want to win so badly.”
Chloe said they had hoped to set some new records.
“We are extremely competitive, and we did come into this race wanting to be two females to win The Amazing Race Australia for the first time, but the beautiful thing is, along the way we got distracted… and we got humbled a lot in South Africa. For a split second, we didn’t care about what was happening in the race and enjoyed the beautiful moments we had.”
Arriving in Namibia, teams raced around the vast, arid desert in search of their first clue. In a Detour, a choice of two challenges, teams could either scale a massive sand dune on foot or complete a 12km drive through the dunes.
Teams then drove to Pelican Point, a peninsula swarming with seals, where they had to kayak out to four floating buoys and memorise facts about sea life.
The Tillies had once again secured a strong lead but, as they were leaving Pelican Point, Emily picked up Chloe’s bumbag and unwittingly left her own behind.
The pair didn’t realise the mistake until they were driving on the way to their next challenge but, as per the rules, teams can’t complete a leg of the race unless they have all of their belongings with them. It was a mistake that cost them a lot of time and put them right at the back of the pack.
Teams had to travel to Mondesa where a Himba woman would teach them the traditional method of making Otjize, a paste made from a mixture of fat and ochre. Finally, teams received a shopping list in Damara-Nama, a language unique to the region, that they had to translate with the help of some local friends. Once they found all the items on the list, they raced to meet Beau at the Pit Stop.
Unfortunately, the bag delay was enough and Chloe and Emily were the next team eliminated from the race. Their time on the race was in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Chloe said it was a cause close to her heart.
“I have two incredible women in my life who have both overcome breast cancer, my mother-in-law and my Nonna. If we think about the journey we’ve had in our football career, the statistics are that one or two out of every single locker room will have breast cancer or go through that experience.”
Emily added, “Although we didn’t win for our charity, I think the overall message and goal was so that more awareness is raised. As sad as it was to not win that money for the charity, we hope we’ve done justice by at least raising more awareness.”
Just five teams remain in the competition, Ian Thorpe is still there with best mate Christian, plus there’s Peter Hellier and wife Bridget, country music stars Brooke and Adam, footie stars Billy and Oscar and NFL player Bam Bam and his brother Logan.
