Athletics Australia – MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Rob Fildes OAM

It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that I can today open my Message from the President by applauding the performances of Sally Pearson, Henry Frayne and all Australian participants at the IAAF world indoor championships across the weekend.

Sally again showed the world why she is the one to beat at the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games. Stopping the clock in the 60m hurdles final at 7.73, her gold medal winning performance is the fourth fastest in history, a 2012 world lead and an Australian and Oceania indoor record.

Delivering his first major championship medal, Henry was very impressive in the long jump. Missing out on gold as a consequence of a count back only, his leap of 8.23m is an Australian and Oceania indoor record.

I, also extend congratulations to Dale Stevenson (shot put), Craig Mottram (3000m), Ryan Foster (1500m) and Alana Boyd (pole vault). You admirably represented the green and gold and we look forward to continuing to follow your future successes.

These wonderful performances in Istanbul, Turkey, are a continuation of what has been a fantastic start to this Olympic and Paralympic year.

The National Athletics Series, including the Qantas Australian Athletics Tour, has thrilled crowds in Brisbane, Newcastle, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth and Sydney before culminating with the Qantas Melbourne Track Classic and Olympic Trials just over a week ago.

We’ve also hosted Round 1 of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Hobart, which has been an outstanding addition to our events calendar.

Australian Flame athletes including the aforementioned IAAF world indoor championships starters, Lauren Boden, Brendan Cole, and Youcef Abdi have continued to impress our domestic athletics audiences. This has been reflected through record crowds at the Brisbane Track Classic, Hunter Track Classic and Perth Track Classic, as well as combined audiences in excess of 1.2 million people from the five highlights packages shown on the Nine Network and Fox Sports.

I would, also, like to take this opportunity to congratulate Paralympic hopefuls Evan O’Hanlon, Kelly Cartwright and Katherine Proudfoot for improving the world records in the T38 100m, T42 200m and F36 discus throw respectively. These results are very exciting as the 2012 Paralympic Games fast approach.

To our strategic partners for each meet, including our new long term partners the New South Wales Government, the Victorian Government and the Western Australian Government, I say thank you for supporting our sport and ensuring the continued development of our domestic product.

The Qantas Melbourne Track Classic & Olympic Trials, the culmination of this Tour, is an event that doubled as Round 1 of the IAAF World Challenge, a 15-meet series around the world.

We, in Australia, have been very fortunate to receive continued support from the IAAF to build this event and I am confident in saying that performances this year will again impress the governing body of our sport.

I wholeheartedly congratulate the 17 new athletes who as a consequence of their performances at this event, and across the qualification period, earned their identification for nomination to the Australian Olympic Committee for selection to the 2012 London Olympics.

I also extend my sincere thanks to international stars like David Rudisha, Asbel Kiprop and a host of Americans for choosing Australia to start their Olympic campaigns.

We would also like to thank Qantas, an iconic supporter of Australian sport, for joining us as the naming rights sponsor and official airline of the Australian Athletic Tour.

Together with our long-term commercial partners, including Asics, 2XU and Athletics International, and those who have come on board this year, such as the Art Series Hotel Group, Fit Health and Flight Centre Group Travel. Athletics is gradually expanding our ability to be commercially viable.

The invaluable support we receive from the Australian Sports Commission led by Simon Hollingsworth is also crucial and I thank them for continuing to see the value in contributing extensively to Athletics Australia’s high performance and participation programs.

At an open age level, we now look ahead to the 90^th Australian Athletics Championships to be held at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne on April 13-15, 2012. This event is the culmination of the Australian domestic season, and more than 600 athletes are expected to represent their state or territory at this championship.

The new home of athletics in Victoria, Lakeside Stadium is a fantastic venue that to date has showcased both the Zatopek:10 and the Qantas Melbourne Track Classic & Olympic Trials. I look forward to being there again next month, where we expect to see a fantastic standard of competition once again as the battle for coveted national crowns takes place.

This weekend, more than 1700 athletes aged 14 to 20 will descend on Sydney Olympic Park for the 2012 Australian Junior Athletics Championships.

The Australian Junior Athletics Championships are a very important addition to our season calendar, presenting a quality underage competition environment for emerging stars. It is vital in building a clear pathway from the All Schools to club and state competition and onto the world stage.

Now in its third year, this event continues to grow and would not be possible without the support of Little Athletics Australia, with whom we have a strong and continuing Joint Venture Agreement.

I am confident that the relationship between our two autonomous organisations can continue to prosper and, with the support of the Australian Sports Commission, ensure a strong future for our sport.

This initiative is one of the most important signs that our sport is on the right path, and that we are producing athletes who can perform to a high standard on the world stage in both junior events like the IAAF world junior championships and at the Olympics and Paralympics.

The High Performance Plan established in 2009 will this year come to fruition and I am pleased by the performances to date and excited about those we can expect to see in the upcoming months.

Our High Performance Department, led very capably by Eric Hollingsworth, has the full support of the Athletics Australia Board of Directors.

We encourage the athletics fraternity to come together and celebrate the successes ahead with us.

Athletics Australia are proud to announce that we have in the past two years provided funding to contracted athletes for the first time, with these 37 joining many others to form the 141 who are on scholarship or in development programs at Sport Institutes across the country.

A further 43 athletes form the Target Talent Program developed to assist athletes in achieving world-class performances at a young age and supporting their potential into senior representation, while 139 enjoy the benefits of our Under 17 Development, Under 19 Talent and Under 21 Squads.

Athletics Australia now has more than 3100 accredited coaches, the most we have ever recorded and a testament to the new athletics coach accreditation framework recognised by all levels of the sport from Little Athletics to Australian Masters.

Importantly, we are continuing to reap rewards from all of these programs.

To date, 52 athletes have achieved the qualifying standard for the IAAF world junior championships and this is 17 more than at the same time in 2008, and 21 more than at the same time in 2010. Additionally, the nominated Olympic squad is on track to be as big as it was in Athens and Beijing despite raising the bar and requiring athletes to reach a single Athletics Australia standard.

As the build up to London continues to unfold, I wish all athletes still seeking nomination for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games the very best of luck. The work you have done to date is something to be very proud of and we look forward to sharing the journey with you.

I thank all of the coaches, families, officials and volunteers who will play their part across the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in the coming days, and wish all athletes competing the best for a successful and enjoyable competition and for your future athletics goals.

Robin H Fildes OAM
President
Athletics Australia

 

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