Warm up with the Champions

In Sydney a bunch of enthusiastic little athletes joined our world champs Jana Rawlinson and Nathan Deakes in a series of stretches and exercises on the track at Sydney Olympic Park. Once they had blitzed the final lap the kids were all smiles as Jana and Nathan signed autographs and posed for photos before Nathan headed off to be commentator extraordinaire and Jana joined husband Chris and son Cor to watch all the action from the stands.

Melbourne was a buzz with Asafa Powell, would he run or not, but more than a hundred little athletes were busy preparing for their moment in the sun. Led by Australian discus champ, Benn Harradine and World Champ Nathan Deakes, the kids streamed onto the track as an opening to the feature session. Running them through a series of stretches and drills, Benn and Nathan made sure they were all ready to impress the crowd with their final lap. That they did, with a lap reminiscent of a Buster Mottram victory lap complete with the rousing applause from the crowd. A great start to a fantastic night.

The Olympic selection trials and Australian Athletics Championships at QSAC were the backdrop for the final Warm up with the Champions activity. Hurdles star Sally McLellan joined Warm up’s Nathan Deakes in some energetic drills and stretching before a hot lap on the track. Despite her injured hamstring Sally showed the kids why she is a superstar and lots of talented youngsters were inspired by meeting their heroes and then watching all of the action.

Warm up with the Champions is an initiative by Athletics Australia in conjunction with state Little Athletics associations to encourage junior athletes by providing opportunities to meet the stars of the sport and to see premiere athletics meets.

If you or your family participated in any of the Warm up with the Champions activities we would love your feedback!

By filling out this simple survey you could go into the running to win a cute signaroo with a special message from our very own World Champion Jana Rawlinson, click here for more details.