6 replies to this topic

[thecheersquad]

Congratulations to all our young athletes on their outstanding results in the Commonwealth Youth Championships in India over the last week in Pune India.
Go Aussies

Edited by thecheersquad, 22 December 2008 - 04:04 PM.

[akajan]

Well done to whole team. The standout must be Vika Lolo with gold in discus and silver in shot put.
Then there is Blake Lukas with gold in pole vault (5.25m), looking very good for WJ in two years time.
Sam Baines gold in 110m hurdles, Bianca Maurer in javelin also gold, Julian Wruck in discus, fantastic results.
Then sprinters with a swag of medals, Ray Williams, young Lauren O'Sullivan (1992), Elly Graf.
Middle distance on the weaker side this time, altough very good runs by Tod Wakefield (1500m) and Richard Everest (5000m).

And media coverage - none so far. What do you make of that?
Is there a plot against athletics coverage in this country?

Edited by akajan, 18 October 2008 - 08:26 PM.

[Jimboy]

Yes,some good performances,the World standards are very high and our athletes all performed creditably,some superbly.
The lack of publicity for their efforts is disappointing.Even AA site was perfuntory about them.
It was interesting to read on BBC that the young English lass who won sprint double had previously won herself a $65000 approx.prize when pleading her case(on some media show) for financial support through to London 2012.Wouldn't it be nice to see some tv mob here pick up that idea for our aspirants.One can dream.

[thecheersquad]

And not to forget that our sprint teams 4 x100 girls and boys both won silver medals

Edited by thecheersquad, 22 December 2008 - 04:05 PM.

[Long Arms]

I just arrived back from India and had a great time at the CYG in Pune, plus a bit of time in Mumbai. The Aussie team did themselves and their country proud. It is great to see so much talent and enthusiasm amongst our developing athletes.

Conditions were tough for distance running, being hot and humid- luckily the kids didn't have to race any further than 3000m (girls) and 5000m (boys), with the winning times by African runners being superb.....9.06 and 14.10.

The Kenyans in the 1500m had "altitude" pbs of around 3.40, with the boys winner recording a swift 3.45.9 in a tactical affair, so some top class there for 16/17 year olds. Both Richard Everest (5000m)and Todd Wakefield (1500m) laid it on the line in their finals, both being in contention until very late in their races and not being overawed by the Africans in the least. Both the 1500m and 5000m finals contained the brutal surges that we so often see senior African runners use to chilling effect.

The Aussie team, along with the 70 other national teams, led a pretty sheltered existance for the majority of their stay ,which is just what elite athletes needed in a city such as Pune.

I covered around 200km on foot in the week in India (about 130km running and 70km walking). The amount of poverty and suffering that I witnessed was incredible, a sad fact bearing in mind that Pune is supposedly one of India's wealthiest cities. Even though many people were homeless or had little more than a sheet of corrogated iron as shelter, the smiles I received each day were endless and worth trillions of dolars! My hands are still sore from the huge number of handshakes and high fives I received. Running was tough going, due to the heat and humidity, plus dodging extrely heavy traffic. It was such a relief to be able to find and run in a park or running track, once having battled the thousands of motor vehicles.

My regular rickshaw driver invited me to dinner for my final night in Pune. So I joined him, his wife and two young children for a lovely Indian dinner. Their "apartment" consisted of one tiny room which I quickly estimated to be 16 square metres in total. There was basic cooking facilities in one corner, a small cupboard which stored the whole family's clothing, a small scared space with some religious objects, a 30cm TV, and one small bed like bench (no mattress, all wood). a 5th person, the adult brother of the wife, also lives there, but was absent at the dinner- well he couldn't have fit in the room with me there anyhow. They sleep on the hard tile floor, plus eat meals on the floor too. 34 other familes live in the same apartment block and share a small bathroom for each sex (ie the men's bathroom had two toilets and two showers).

The driver/father of the household described their living conditions as "middle class". I know this family is better off than many people in India and around the world, but man....... we live in a lucky country!

Anyway it will give us a taste of what Delhi wil be like in 2 years.

[thecheersquad]

all the athletes in Pune had a great time

Edited by thecheersquad, 22 December 2008 - 04:05 PM.

[thecheersquad]

Have been googling the news and have found a bunch of reports in local papers and sports clubs - even if the national papers can't be bothered - the locals covered it ok
http://www.wais.org....tail.asp?ID=259
http://city-south-news.whereilive.com.au/s...l-for-sprinter/
https://www.clubsonline.com.au/news/index.c...p;dts=792008435
http://express-advocate-wyong.whereilive.c...at-youth-games/
http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/oct/1...onsiders-india/
www.news-mail.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3788501
www.nswathletics.org.au
http://redland.yourguide.com.au/news/local...es/1341879.aspx
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cg...%4031%40%402%40
www.athsvic.org.au/news/newsfile.php?newsFileID=2869
http://camden.yourguide.com.au/news/local/...es/1321697.aspx
http://www.stirlings...index.php?cid=1
www.athletics.com.au/cyg_results_dayone