Athlete Pathway: World Juniors or not
Published Tue 31 Mar 2020
31 March 2020
Athlete Pathway: World Juniors or not
Leading NSW and Australian teenager athletes are in limbo, unsure if the World Athletics U20 Championships will he held this year.
In this article for the Athletics NSW’s coaching newsletter, David Tarbotton, through athlete examples, highlights the enormous variety of pathways junior athletes follow to senior success – some via the World Juniors and others with very limited or even no junior involvement or achievements in athletics.
Over the last nine months, steeplechaser Georgia Winkcup, 22, and hurdler Liz Clay, 24, have seemingly emerged from nowhere, but the reality is they compiled strong junior years, but have had to be patience in the transition years from junior to senior as they, battled injuries, managed coach and program changes, undertook tertiary study, relocated and worked to support themselves. Winkcup, a Law student and part-time paralegal, made the final of the steeplechase at the 2016 world juniors, but then made no improvement for three years until in mid-2019 she improved by 39 seconds and competed at the Doha world championships. While Clay, a science graduate who works in marketing and graphic design on the Gold Coast, was selected late for the 2014 World Juniors, but just before departure broke her navicular bone and withdrew. For five years she made marginal improvement, hampered by injury, but then in 2020, she became one of the revelations of the season removing 0.42 seconds from her PB to become the fourth fastest in Australian history.
Currently Australia’s premier men’s distance runner, Stewart McSweyn, 24, had an unremarkable junior career. He placed 86th in the junior race at the 2013 World Cross Country. His PBs as a junior were 8:23 (3000m) and 14:34 (5000m), and as a senior athlete is now top-2 Australian all-time in the 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m.
The world junior championships was not a factor in the careers of Australia’s four fastest men: 9.93 Patrick Johnson, 10.03 Matt Shirvington, 10.08 Josh Ross and Rohan Browning. The only athlete to go to world Juniors, was Shirvington in 1996, where he was reserve for the 4x100m relay. Johnson – burst on the scene aged 24yrs. Ross - interclub and pro runner in his teens, then won the Stawell Gift in 2003 off 7 metres aged 22 yrs and started running serious on the track aged 23 yrs and later that year competed at Athens Olympics. Browning - started running later in his teens at school. Then injury and a December birthday hampered his chances to qualify for the World Juniors.
Here are some more athletes who have taken different pathways to senior success:
LINDEN HALL:
Junior - 1500m best 4:23. No junior teams. Medallist Australian age champs.
Transition – 23yrs 4:16, 24yrs 4:10
Senior – breakthrough at 25yrs, ran 4:04, then 4:01. Current Australian 1500m and mile recordholder
BEN ST LAWRENCE:
Junior – bronze national junior steeplechase, best 9:14.
Transition – quit athletes for five years
Senior – famously, when aged 24 yrs, was inspired to return to running while sitting in a pub watching the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Became Australian 10,000m recordholder (recently broken). Between 2010 and 2016 went to two each – Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
JANA PITTMAN:
Junior - Compete at Sydney Olympics before she competed at 2000 World Juniors where she won the 400m and 400m hurdles
Senior - Two-time world champion at 400m hurdles
JARED TALLENT:
Junior - 19th out of 30 at the World Juniors in the 10,000m walk
Senior - 4-time Olympic medallist
NICOLA MCDERMOTT:
Junior – selected for 2014 World Juniors, knocked out in qual round
Transition – (2015-2018) seasonal best has been a nearly perfect gradual improvement and then also consistent at new heights. Solid in championships, two World Uni finals, a bronze Commonwealth Games, but a no height at world championships debut.
Senior – Incredible progression in 2019 to 1.96m and in 2020 jumps of 1.96m, 1.94m, 1.96m and 1.92m.
CATRIONA BISSET:
Junior – school athletics only
Senior – 24 yrs started to progress, a 2:04 athlete, at 25 yrs ran Australian 800m record
Pathways of the Australian team - 2019 World Championships:
World Juniors Top 8 (20) – Carley Thomas, Georgia Griffith, Jess Hull, Michelle Jenneke, Celeste Mucci, Katie Hayward, Elizaveta Parnova, Brooke Stratton, Steven Solomon, Matthew Ramsden, Ryan Gregson, Nick Hough, Dane Bird-Smith, Joel Baden, Brandon Starc, Henry Frayne, Darcy Roper, Matt Denny & Cedric Dubler.
World Junior (13) – Bella O’Grady, Morgan Mitchell, Lauren Boden, Georgia Winkcup, Melissa Breen, Maddie Coates, Kristie Edwards, Nana Owusu, Nicola McDermott, Alysha Burnett, Luke Mathews, Morgan McDonald & Rhydian Cowley.
No World Juniors (26) – Bendere Oboya, Catriona Bisset, Linden Hall, Melissa Duncan, Sinead Diver, Ellie Pashley, Rochelle Rodgers, Brianna Beahan, Sarah Carli, Sara Klein, Paige Campbell, Gen Gregson, Jemima Montag, Ellie Beer, Rebecca Bennett, Kelsey-Lee Barber, Rohan Browning, Peter Bol, Stewart McSweyn, Pat Tiernan, Julian Spence, Ben Buckingham, Alex Beck, Murray Goodwin, Ian Halpin & Henry Smith.
David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW
Image: Rohan Browning competing at the 2019 World Championships
