Call it shoring up their chances a fortnight out from the start of the London Olympics.
Or just trying to find a local angle. It doesn't really matter.
Cheeky British journalists have done their best to claim Sally Pearson as one of their own in the lead-up to this weekend's Diamond League meet in south London.
The world champion hurdler's mother is from England and local hacks, not for the first time, asked if she would ever consider moving to the island of gloom.
"I live on the Gold Coast; why would I move here," she said, reflecting on one of the most miserable British summers in living history.
"I get the sun and the heat every day (at home)."
Not that Pearson doesn't have a fondness for the old country ahead of the Olympic 100m hurdles heats on August 6.
She loves catching up with members of her mother's family in Kent - where the Australian athletics team is based before the Olympics.
"I stay with my auntie quite a bit and it just helps to keep me normal," she said.
"I do my own cooking and cleaning and it makes you feel like you are at home again.
"I think you can put yourself into too much of a bubble if you go into camp a bit early.
"You forget that you are a human being and that there is a real world out there."
Pearson will try to extend her winning streak in the 100m hurdles this year on Saturday in south London.
