A fine balance

Unlike many elite athletes, Damon balanced sport with a career from the very beginning. After finishing school, he studied quantity surveying and worked in the construction industry while training at an elite level.

“Weightlifting’s a pretty serious sport,” he says. “It’s 100 per cent in the gym. I was training six days a week, building intensity for competitions. It takes its toll mentally and physically.”

Managing both work and sport meant constant compromise. “Training was the priority, but you’ve still got to put food on the table,” he explains. “Some days one suffered more than the other. But work was actually a good distraction, it gave me a break from thinking about training all the time.”

That balance continued throughout his sporting career, including appearances at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the Beijing Olympics, the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the London Olympics. Eventually, as family life grew and competitive sport wound down, he returned full-time to construction, and ultimately back to FDC.

Never Give Up

Ask Damon what it really takes to compete at the highest level of sport, and his answer is simple. “Honestly, it’s just turning up,” he says. “There are weeks where everything’s flying and you feel amazing. But there are other weeks where nothing works. The key is still showing up and doing the work.” Damon believes those tough weeks are where the real progress happens. “You get your most important wins when you don’t stop. Even if you’re having a bad day or a bad week, you keep moving forward.”

It’s a philosophy that translates almost perfectly into the world of construction. Estimating major projects, where huge decisions, tight timelines and significant responsibility converge, requires the same ability to stay focused under pressure.

“Pulling an estimate together at the end of a tender is a bit like your final warm-up lifts before stepping onto the platform,” Damon explains. “You’ve done all the preparation, you’ve got advice from your team, and you’re just making sure everything is right before you present.”

The science behind the lift

For Damon, one of the biggest parallels between elite sport and estimating lies in preparation. Weightlifting isn’t just brute strength, it’s a carefully structured process guided by coaches, programming and incremental improvements. “There’s a science behind what you’re doing,” he says. “You’re not just lifting weights for the sake of it. You follow your program, listen to your coach and trust the process.”

Estimating, he says, operates in much the same way. “You’re pulling everything together, but you understand what’s behind it. There’s a process to follow. If you do the work properly with your team and put together a strong submission, hopefully you get the win at the end.” Just like sport, it’s rarely a solo effort.

“In weightlifting you’ve got coaches, physios and a whole support team behind you,” he says. “Construction’s similar. You lean on the people around you, bounce ideas off each other and work through challenges together.” Sport teaches resilience. “You don’t always win,” Damon says simply. And that mindset can be critical when navigating the competitive world of tenders and major projects. “You can be annoyed or frustrated if something doesn’t go your way,” he says. “But you can’t dwell on it. You’ve got to accept it, learn from it and move forward.” Otherwise, a small setback can snowball into something bigger. “If you have a bad week in training, you don’t want it to turn into two or three. You just reset and go again.”

A Full Circle Moment

Given Damon’s history with the Olympics, winning the bid for the Brisbane Olympic Committee office project carried an extra layer of meaning.

“It was very exciting,” he says. “I’ve always been a big fan of the Olympics, and having Brisbane host the Games is awesome.” Being able to contribute, even in a completely different capacity, felt special. “I’ve had a lot of support from Olympic committees and organisations over the years that helped me get to where I was,” he reflects. “So it feels good to return the favour in a small way.”

The project will provide the Olympic Committee with an expanded office space to help coordinate the enormous task of preparing for Brisbane 2032. Of course, securing a major project isn’t quite the same as standing atop the podium. When asked if the moment rivalled winning Commonwealth Games gold, Damon laughs. “No, nothing beats that,” he says. “But it was definitely rewarding. There was great teamwork behind the submission, and it was exciting to see it come together.” Whether lifting hundreds of kilograms in front of a crowd or delivering a high-stakes project behind the scenes, the same principles apply: Have a plan, trust the process, lean on your team, and above all, keep turning up.

Given Damon’s history with the Olympics, winning the bid for the Brisbane Olympic Committee office project carried an extra layer of meaning.

“It was very exciting,” he says. “I’ve always been a big fan of the Olympics, and having Brisbane host the Games is awesome.” Being able to contribute, even in a completely different capacity, felt special. “I’ve had a lot of support from Olympic committees and organisations over the years that helped me get to where I was,” he reflects. “So it feels good to return the favour in a small way.”

The project will provide the Olympic Committee with an expanded office space to help coordinate the enormous task of preparing for Brisbane 2032. Of course, securing a major project isn’t quite the same as standing atop the podium. When asked if the moment rivalled winning Commonwealth Games gold, Damon laughs. “No, nothing beats that,” he says. “But it was definitely rewarding. There was great teamwork behind the submission, and it was exciting to see it come together.” Whether lifting hundreds of kilograms in front of a crowd or delivering a high-stakes project behind the scenes, the same principles apply: Have a plan, trust the process, lean on your team, and above all, keep turning up.