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Samuels in a spin over Olympic champion's visit
Olympic discus champion Stephanie Brown Trafton is the seventh Beijing gold medallist joining a stellar cast of international stars set to compete in Sydney this Saturday night and Melbourne next Thursday.
Her imminent arrival provides an invaluable learning opportunity for Sydney-based young gun Dani Samuels to compete against the world’s best on her own home soil as she continues her promising progression towards the London Olympics.
Brown Trafton enhances an already impressive list of international athletes set to compete on Australian soil, including former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell, Beijing pole vault silver medallist Yevgeniy Lukyanenko, American sprint star Xavier Carter and our own Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker and 100m hurdles silver medallist Sally McLellan.
The towering Brown Trafton, who stretches the measuring tape out to 193 cm (6ft 4in), will compete at the Sydney Track Classic this Saturday, 28 February and at the World Athletics Tour – Melbourne on Thursday, 5 March.
For 20-year-old Sydneysider Dani Samuels, competing against Brown Trafton this summer will provide valuable competition, as she seeks to improve on her best heave of 62.95m produced at last year’s national championships.
The pair has only met once before - in the Olympic final, Samuels the youngest member in the field, finishing ninth.
A member of the Target 2012 development squad, the former world junior champion has her eyes on London, and can only benefit from Brown Trafton’s Australian visit.
“I’m really looking forward to competing against her on home soil. She’s definitely one of the top guns and she proved that in Beijing,” said Samuels.
“Having her here will help me prepare for Berlin and will give me that extra determination and drive. She’s beaten me once and I want to make sure she doesn’t do it again.”
“This season I’m aiming to throw past the 64m mark and break my PB. I was capable of doing it in 2008, but it didn’t happen, and this year I just need to be more consistent.”
Last August, Brown Trafton shocked many in the athletics world, by becoming the first American woman in 76 years to win the Olympic discus title.
It was also the United States’ first track and field gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games, after four initial days of underachievement.
Her Olympic gold was a significant victory for the two-time Olympian, who interestingly had never qualified for the world championships nor placed higher than second at the USA national championships.
Having somewhat stalled in her progression since 2004, the 29-year-old made a significant breakthrough in 2008, improving on her personal best on three occasions to reach her current best of 66.17m.
She pin-pointed her dramatic improvement on a key difference to her training regime. Instead of taking time off between the 2007 and 2008 seasons, she worked on her balance, agility and flexibility with a physical therapist, a decision which has now paid dividends.
Capping off her stellar year, Track and Field News, the authoritive US athletics magazine, ranked Brown-Trafton the No. 1 discus thrower in the world for 2008 – the first time a female American discus thrower has ever been handed the No. 1 ranking.
Similar to her younger counterpart, Brown Trafton was also a talented basketballer during her college days, however a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended her basketball ambitions, and she decided to concentrate on track and field.
For Brown Trafton, 2009 is all about staying on top of the world, as she kicks off her preparations for August’s world championships in Berlin.
Upcoming media activities:
Wednesday, 25 February
American Xavier ‘X-Man’ Carter and Joel Milburn preview the men’s 400m
Sydney Olympic Park
2pm
Thursday, 26 February
John Landy Lunch Club incorporating the Sydney Track Classic media conference
WatersEdge, Walsh Bay
12 noon for 12.15pm start
Sydney Track Classic – Sydney Olympic Park – Saturday 28 February 2009
World Athletics Tour - Olympic Park Melbourne – Thursday 5 March 2009
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