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Julian Wruck: A Spark igniting the Flame
In the midst of birthday celebrations and
packing his suitcase for the 13th IAAF world junior championships
in Moncton (CAN), Julian Wruck takes time out from
his busy schedule to write this week's athlete diary.
An athletics scholarship-holder at Texas Tech University in Lubbock
(USA), Julian, together with pole vault prodigy Liz
Parnov, who will line up at next month's Youth Olympic
Games in Singapore, will this year compete on the international
stage at both a junior and senior level.
After taking to the throws cage as a member of the 36-strong
Australian Spark team later this month, Julian will shift his focus
to the XIX Commonwealth Games in New Delhi (IND) from October
3.
Wruck, who took bronze in the men's discus throw at the Go for
2&5 88th Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth
Games selection trials in April to book his ticket to New Delhi,
returned to Texas following the national titles to become the NCAA
West Regional discus throw champion with a heave of 58.70m in late
May and place third at the NCAA championships in June with a best
effort of 58.03m.
Athletics Australia wishes Julian a very happy 19th birthday today
and wishes him and his Spark teammates the best of luck as they
depart our shores for Canada on Thursday for the 2010 IAAF world
junior titles.
Enjoy!
Entry 3: Julian Wruck
2010 has been the most exciting year of my athletic endeavours by
far, and it’s not even close to over!
Having finished my first year in the American college system I can
say without a doubt the move was no mistake – I’m loving
it! I took a pretty big risk in travelling over to Texas in
search of new viewpoints and experience in the discus, but I’ve
never looked back since.
During the college season early this year I got to meet hundreds of
athletes from all around America including Olympic medallists,
world championships medallists and upcoming young talent, most of
whom were very friendly and helpful. I was quite disappointed at my
performances throughout this season; there were a few opportunities
here and there that I should have seized and didn’t, but it’s all
just good learning experience and will make me even more hungry
moving forward.
In Canada, at the world junior championships, my goal is to win,
and I firmly believe that I can. I have thoroughly enjoyed my
training in the lead-up to this meet and I know that I have trained
harder than any competitor I will face, which convinces me that I
have the best chance to win it.
The Commonwealth Games isn’t something I have put much thought into
yet. I was very excited to receive nomination to attend this meet
and I think I will enjoy it a whole lot. I am not throwing
distances that make me confident going into this event but I am
trying to keep my mind on one thing at a time. I will focus on the
Commonwealth Games after the world juniors are over knowing I will
have about three months to prepare for it, which is plenty of
time.
As for my studies, I’m currently double-majoring in Philosophy and
Psychology at Texas Tech University after switching from Exercise
and Sports Science, a change I’m very glad I made. Growing up, like
many kids I’m sure, I’ve always had a lot of questions for my
parents involving the word “why” and hypothetical situations which
they have never been able to answer, so I’m now on a journey
outside athletics to find these answers myself, and my field of
study matches this very well making me confident in my
decision.
If you ever see me at a meet, or anywhere for that matter feel free
to walk up and say 'hi!' I always love a good chat,
particularly about the throwing events, and if you love the discus
like me then I’d love to have a throw with you. I’m a pretty big
guy, usually with coloured hair and basketball shorts, wearing
either thongs or throwing shoes. You can’t miss me.
I love athletics so get used to seeing me around; I’ll be here for
a while – ha ha...
Cheers,
Julian
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