11.05.2009

Jump Start to London squad all set for Arafura

The future of Australian athletics will be on show in Darwin this week as members of the Jump Start to London 2012 program turn up the heat at the 2009 Arafura Games.

The Arafura Games are a large sports carnival held every two years that attracts competitors from a range of overseas countries including Singapore and Japan. The event provides a good depth of competition for all participants.

Nineteen athletes from the silver and bronze tiers of the Jump Start to London program will compete at the Games, along with two athletes who won scholarships to join the group as a gift of the Australian Governor General to the people of Tonga.

The 2009 squad includes Pacific Schools Games long jump gold medallist Khaele Bowen and dual silver medallist in the long jump and triple jump at the Under 20 national championships Kertisha Thompson. Also in the group is Oceania championships long jump silver medallist Linc Port.

This year a number of new athletes are joining the group and Athletics Australia wishes them all the best for their first competition with the Jump Start program.

Mentoring the group will be Olympian and 12-times national champion over the 110m hurdles Kyle Vander-Kuyp, who has been a major part of the Jump Start program since its early days.

Also joining the squad will be Patrick Johnson, who in March was selected to represent Australia at the world championships in Berlin in August.

The group will take part in various education sessions before competing across four days of athletics action.