20.05.2009

50 days to go: World youth athletes count down to Bressanone

With just 50 days to go before the 6th IAAF world youth championships kick off in Bressanone, Italy, four of the nation’s top emerging athletes were on hand at the AIS last week to share their pathways from junior athletes to international players with the next generation of track and field hopefuls.

For the 26 athletes selected to the Australian team, the clock is fast ticking down to July 8 and the launch of the 2009 edition of the worldwide event.

As the final countdown begins, four of Australia’s top track prospects took time out from their rigorous training schedules last week to relive their first experiences on the international stage with the current crop of Under 17 National Development Squad athletes at a training camp at the AIS.

For Melissa Breen (100m), Kurt Mulcahy (400m), Angeline Blackburn (400m) and Brittney McGlone (400m hurdles), that first step onto the world stage came via world junior representation in Beijing, China, in 2006 and Bydgozcz, Poland, in 2008.

In August Breen will make her senior world championships debut, selected to contest the 100m in Berlin.

Her rapid rise to the top of world sport is just one of the many stories within Australian track and field that will inspire the next generation of athletes in the lead-up to the world youth championships in July.

Melissa Breen

“In 2008 I made the world junior team in the 100m and it was amazing, going (to Bydgozcz) and competing for Australia at the world junior level when I was 17 was incredible.

“I got to the semi’s in the 100m and missed out on the final by one spot. It was heartbreaking to watch that final because I knew I’d trained hard enough to get there. To be in that final would have been amazing but I just missed it and that’s what spurred me on to make my first senior team at 18.

“I got selected for the world championships this year and that’s something I still pinch myself about, that I’ve made that team in an individual event at age 18 and it’s something you always aim for in your career and I’ve trained my butt off for it.

"Every day I wake up and I know that’s why I get out of bed and I know that’s why I want to train so hard, to train myself into the ground so that when I stand up on the blocks at the world championships in August, I know I‘ve done everything possible to get through the first round, then the second round and onto the semi-finals.”

Kurt Mulcahy

“I started running in high school and to be honest I was never that good back then, I’d only just make it to state each year in the school relay and I’d look at the kids getting first, second and third on the blocks and think, ‘gee, they must be good,’ and I didn’t think I’d ever have the chance to be on the blocks, I didn’t think it was ever going to happen to me.

“I just kept plugging along, training a couple of days a week on the track where I used to live and eventually something just clicked and I started competing well.

“My first major breakthrough was in Melbourne at the Pacific Schools Games. I went into those championships with a PB in the 200m of 23.1 and I came out of the championships running 21.5 and that was my first world junior qualifier, so if there’s anyone thinking you can’t do it or you’re running slow, all it takes is one day and it clicks.

“I went (to Beijing) with no expectations whatsoever, I went just wanting to have fun and enjoy myself and I just missed out on the final and then came back to Australia and decided to give it a real crack. The year after that I made a breakthrough in the 400m, I came second at my first nationals and that was a big stepping-stone for me in thinking I could do this and I’d have a real go of it.

“I got selected for the world championships (in 2007) and I remember thinking I didn’t really belong there, I was picked but I didn’t think I deserved it because I was racing against people with PB’s of 43.5 and I’d only run 46.0.

“In 2008 I decided I was going to really give it a go, I moved to Canberra and I had a new coach, a new environment around me and it was a hard year for me. I thought I was just going to keep progressing and keep getting better and better but last year taught me that in order to keep running quicker and achieve your goals, you’ve got to work hard and I was working hard but I wasn’t relaxing or enjoying myself so I just had to start enjoying myself again and this year’s been a really good year, I got back to where I was with my PB and I just think if you enjoy yourself, you can really achieve your goals.”

Angeline Blackburn

“I first started running training when I was 13 or 14 and my breakthrough was probably at All Schools, that was the first stepping-stone and then in 2006 I made my first world junior team and that was amazing, it really opened my eyes.

“The qualifier just came out of the blue and I just kept working away and it made me realise there are so many opportunities out there. I came fifth in the semi-finals at my first world juniors and then I was selected for the World Cup in 2006 in the 4x400m relay and that was crazy because everything happened so fast.

“I was in the relay and I was looking at these other girls who were Olympians but once I stepped out on the track I knew the only thing I could control was myself and I was just going to run the best I could regardless of what was around me.

“After juniors and World Cup it was a pretty rough time for me, I went through about three coaches until I found the right one. The next world juniors that I qualified for was in Poland in 2008. I came sixth in the 400m final and our relay team won a bronze medal and that was huge given we’d all run at least four races before it and teams like Italy and the Ukraine brought in fresh legs, girls who were there specifically to run the relay.

“You don’t realise but the next day things can change so quickly, you go through ups and downs but when you’re going through a tough period, eventually you’ll come out of it okay. If you just stick at it and you’re going through a tough time just remember you’re young and you’ve got so much room for improvement.

“I’m hoping to have a better season next season and looking forward to the Commonwealth Games.”

Brittney McGlone

“I’ve been running since I was about six and had a few years off when I was 13 or 14 and then we moved to Canberra and I decided to run again and I found a new coach in Matt Beckenham and became a 400m hurdler.

“I got into the world junior team in 2008 and at the pre-departure camp I ran a PB and then made it to the semi-finals but I didn’t really run a good time. I just wasn’t with it and I’d psyched myself out. It was my first world juniors and my first international competition and I guess you have to get a few of those under your belt before you really let yourself run properly.”  

Seven members of the Under 17 National Development Squad will contest the world youth championships in 2009: Cameron Hyde (110m hurdles), Kurt Jenner (long jump), Damien Birkinhead (shot put), Shannon Jennings (5000m walk), Amy Pejkovic (high jump), Brooke Stratton (long jump) and Taryn Gollshewsky (discus throw).

For the full list of athletes named to the Australian team, click here.