15.08.2009

Tradition aflame

In what is set to become an athletics tradition the 46 inaugural Australian Flame athletes received their unique Flame numbers in a team only meeting this evening.

These numbers will, like the baggy green, be a badge of honour and during each championship new Australian Flame members will be inducted and given their numbers.

“It’s up to us to build the team culture and make the Flame a great thing to be a part of,” team captain Steve Hooker said at the launch, and true to his word led the induction ceremony at Hotel Berlin Berlin tonight.

Ably assisted by the lovely barrel girls Jody Henry and Madeleine Pape, Steve called each athlete to the front of the room, where they spun the German lotto barrel to select their number and entertained the group with an embarrassing moment. 

“On the final night before competition, it was fantastic to see the team really bonding and supporting each other,” commented High Performance Manager, Eric Hollingsworth.

The 12th IAAF world athletics championships begin tomorrow morning German time with day one featuring Australians in the qualification rounds of the men’s shot put, women’s steeplechase, men’s 400m hurdles and the men’s 1500m, and the final of the men’s 20km walk.

The inaugural Australian Flame

1 Anthony Alozie

2 Mark Tucker

3 Chris Erickson

4 Ben Offereins

5 Collis Birmingham

6 Mitchell Watt

7 Luke Adams

8 Madeleine Pape

9 Jody Henry

10 Brendan Cole

11 Scott Martin

12 Caitlin Pincott

13 Steve Hooker

14 Dave McNeill

15 Cheryl Webb

16 Tamsyn Lewis

17 Marty Dent

18 Sally McLellan

19 Jeff Riseley

20 Kim Mickle

21 Justin Anlezark

22 Benn Harradine

23 Youcef Abdi

24 Fabrice Lapierre

25 Jared Tallent

26 Alwyn Jones

27 Claire Tallent

28 Joel Milburn

29 Jeremy Roff

30 Patrick Johnson

31 John Steffensen

32 Scott Westcott

33 Jess Rothwell

34 Pirrenee Steinert

35 Dani Samuels

36 Tristan Thomas

37 Aaron Rouge – Serret

38 Matt Davies

39 Sean Wroe

40 Donna MacFarlane

41 Adam Rutter

42 Petrina Price

43 Andrew Letherby

44 Lisa Weightman

45 Josh Ross

46 Ryan Gregson