Gold for Indigenous athletes at Arafura Games

NTID athletes competing at the Arafura Games in Darwin.

Indigenous athletes compete at the Arafura Games supported by the ASC and Athletics Australia through the NTID program. Image by Funky Creations Photography.

Indigenous athletes competing at the Arafura Games.

Indigenous athletes compete at the Arafura Games supported by the ASC and Athletics Australia through the NTID program. Photo taken by David Woodley.

Indigenous athletes compete at the Arafura Games supported by the ASC and Athletics Australia through the NTID program. Photo taken by Alex Parry.

27 May 2009

Nineteen of Australia’s highly talented Indigenous athletes, members of the Australian Sports Commission’s Jump Start to London Olympics 2012 program, have claimed 24 track and field medals at Darwin’s Arafura Games, a leading international competition for emerging Asia–Pacific champions.

There were many highlights for the Jump Start squad, who claimed a total of 11 gold, eight silver and five bronze medals at the Arafura Games on 9–17 May.

Khaele Bowen had two especially impressive wins, in the under-18 triple jump and high jump event, and also managed a new personal best of 1.89m in the latter. Emma Rose Daby also had two victories, winning the 100 and 200-metre events in front of a home crowd, while her team-mate Amber Mutch claimed victory in both the 800 and 1500 metres.

Bowen, Daby, Mutch and 16 other Indigenous athletes are receiving specialist coaching support and mentoring through the Jump Start to London Olympics 2012 program, a joint initiative of the Australian Sports Commission’s National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program and Athletics Australia.

This unique program aims to identify and develop Indigenous athletes for high performance competition events such as the Arafura Games, with the ultimate goal of competing for Australia at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

In preparation for the Arafura Games, the Jump Start athletes received mentorship from Olympians Kyle Vander-Kuyp and Patrick Johnson and training provided by the NTID program, including sessions on nutrition, preparing for competition, recovery and injury prevention.

Development Manager for Athletics Australia, Sally McGrady is delighted by the athletes’ results.

‘It’s great to see Indigenous athletes in the NTID program performing well and producing some great results at the Arafura Games. Major events like the Arafura Games provide an opportunity for talented Indigenous athletes to gain experience and to achieve their best in elite competition,’ McGrady said.

Other big winners at the Arafura Games from the NTID squad were Zachary Raymond, Kimberly Pickett, Chauncey Andolfatto and Kertisha Thompson.