At 21-years-old, Aiden Hinson has experienced enough success to warrant his Olympic dream yet enough setbacks to have his reservations. Calling from Vienna for an insight into the life of an athlete taking a leap of faith, the triple jumper is taking it all in his stride.
One of four athletes to be profiled this month for The Athletics Foundation, you can mark the end of the 2025 financial year with a tax-deductible donation to help athletes like Aiden perform on the world stage. More information about The Athletics Foundation can be found HERE.
A laid-back operator in his day-to-day life but meticulous bordering on obsessed when it comes to athletics, Aiden is one of the nation’s brightest young talents at full flight.
Juggling his emerging athletics career with his job as a strength and conditioning coach and his university degree, the 21-year-old immediately concedes ground to the world’s best professional triple jumpers, but it is his work that allows him to chase his Olympic dream.
“I try and do morning shifts so that I can train in the afternoon, which is definitely hard because I’m waking up and 5am and then I’ll be at the track some days until 7pm,” he says.
“It’s a really fine balance of working too much or not enough, hindering recovery and things like that. If you are in a position where you are sponsored and making money, you can put other things in your life on hold a little bit.”
Just days away from kick-starting his international season in a bid to qualify for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, it is easy to be envious of Aiden’s warm-weather venture at picturesque tracks throughout Europe, but that is a privilege earned not given:
“A lot of saving and planning goes into a European campaign. You obviously need money for flights, accommodation, food, and then things like transport, physiotherapy and recovery,” he says.
“I’m currently not working while I’m over here which is tough, but I’m looking at getting some online clients in the future to keep that income up.”
Despite his youth, Aiden has already experienced higher highs and lower lows than a lot of athletes but chooses not to embrace the ‘hard luck’ label.
First selected in the triple jump for the 2021 World Under 20 Championships which Australia withdrew from during the pandemic, the pain would only continue as he was forced to withdraw from both the 2022 World Under 20 Championships and 2023 World Athletics Championships due to injuries which have riddled his career to date.
Between those hardships he has soared to 10th on the Australian all-time list with his 16.72m leap as a 19-year-old, finished in seventh place at the 2023 FISU World University Games and won the 2024 Oceania title – falling just shy of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Almost every week I fight the urge to drop everything. Last year when I didn’t make the Olympics, I quit my job at Bunnings and was unemployed for three or four months, just hoping it would all work out,” he says.
“As an athlete at my level, you need to win just about every competition to break even. Making money on the European circuit is hard because you are spending more than you are earning.”
Sponsored or not, Aiden is working patiently to fulfil his potential under the guidance of coach Chloe Stevens and the Victorian Institute of Sport.
Documenting his journey on his Instagram account (@simplyaidenn), he keeps himself accountable and shares the lessons he has learned, looming as an athlete who is just one prolonged period of full health away from reaching the next level.
Aiden is faced with the task of chasing world ranking points around Europe to qualify for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, competing with the added incentive of becoming just the sixth Australian man ever to surpass 17-metres in the event.
“If I had more financial assistance, I think I could improve my mental clarity and physical performance by accessing different recovery techniques. You have second thoughts about doing some things because you know it’s going to cost a lot, and whether it’s going to be beneficial for you,” he says.
“You could just go out there and worry about performance and not external benefits.”
While the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games remain over three years away, the road has already started for many athletes like Aiden, and you are invited on the journey by supporting them directly through The Athletics Foundation.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 2/6/2025
