Dual Olympic medallist Jared Tallent joined fellow Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) athletes and Australian Sports Commission (ASC) staff in Canberra on Wednesday 24 September to celebrate the 15-year milestone of the National Athlete Career and Education (ACE) program.

Since the ACE program was established in 1994, it has supported more than 20 000 elite athletes across Australia to manage their education, work and sports performance, as well as preparing them for life after sport.

Tallent strode into history at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games where he accomplished a rare feat by winning double medals — silver in the men’s 50-kilometre walk event and bronze in the 20-kilometre event.

The AIS athlete and elite race walker has been helped all the way by ACE while studying for a Bachelor of Business Studies in financial planning, and he has thanked the program for supporting his education, training and development as an elite athlete.

‘It’s great to have the ACE program on my side, which is helping support my education and training for competition and success at the elite level,’ Tallent said.

‘I currently benefit from ACE support through a range of services including career and education planning, personal development training, online education services, work experience referrals and assistance with job searching, and writing resumés and applications.’

More than 3000 elite athletes are eligible to access ACE each year and take advantage of the national network and highly qualified staff located in every state and territory.

The national ACE program is managed by the ASC and is jointly funded with state and territory governments through the AIS and state institutes and academies of sport.