THE future athletics careers of three local athletes looks very bright after the successful completion of the Australian Athletics Championships in Adelaide recently.

Emily Iredell, Yolanda O’Sullivan, and Manaia Bremner all competed in their respective age groups at the championships, with Iredell the only one to gain a podium finish, winning the bronze medal in the Under-14 Girls long jump, while O’Sullivan finished 17th in the Under-14 Girls 1500m, and Bremner placed fourth and sixth in his events.

All three athletes are under instruction from fully qualified athletics coaches, with Iredell and O’Sullivan under the guidance of Phillip Molesworth and Bremner being coached by his mother, Tamai Bremner.

“These were the best athletes in Australia so the standard couldn’t be higher,” Molesworth said.

“Yolanda and Emily had to work through nerves as this was the first time at the championships for both, and they were exposed to the full experience where athletes are interviewed by the media etc. just as they see on television plus all the other aspects that go into the staging of the event.

“Yolanda was coming off an injury where she twisted her ankle and despite this, she led the race for a couple of laps before being run down.

“Because she had to rest the injury when it happened, she lost a little strength, and she got leg weary at the end of the race which dropped her down the finishing order.”

Competing at a prominent event was an exciting experience for O’Sullivan.

“The experience was an amazing learning opportunity,” O’Sullivan said.

“To run against a field of 27 girls that can all run sub-5mins was great, (as) I hadn’t experienced that level of physicality and strategy before in racing, so it’s good to know what it’s like for future races hopefully at that level.

“I finished 17th out of a field of 27 in the Under14 1500m, and I was just excited that I made it to nationals in my first year of athletics. I never pictured myself qualifying 12 months ago.

“Now I have experienced my first nationals I am really keen to improve and qualify again for next year for the 1500m and 800m, (but) I have to run 4:40 to qualify for the 1500m which is eight seconds faster than my personal best, but I think if I keep working hard with my coach I’ll hopefully get there and improve on what I achieved this year.”

Molesworth said Iredell should be filled with confidence after a strong showing.

“Emily finished third in the high jump with three personal best jumps – 4m 95cm, 5.06, and a 5.00m – to be 39cm off the winner, but her second jump was waved off despite being measured at 5.32m as she was judged to have taken off on the plastic strip although she didn’t leave a mark at all,” Molesworth said.

“Normally in these events there would be the plasticine strip on the take-off board which marks up clearly should the jumper overstep, but for some reason the plasticine wasn’t in use and all judging was done by eye only.

“She was nervous with her first jump, but once that was out of the way, the competitor in her kicked in and she was fine from then.”

Competing in both the long jump and high jump, Iredell had to battle disappointment of not performing as well as she wanted on day one.

“It was a roller coaster of emotions, (as) I had trouble with my nerves in high jump (on the first day) and didn’t perform as well as I wanted to, (but) then I had to bring myself up for the next day for long jump,” Iredell said.

“As there were some amazing athletes in the comp with some big qualifying jumps: I was aiming for a personal best and to make the top five.

“I need to work on stretching my feet out on my landing, so that I can get the extra distance.

“It did make me realize that anything is possible.”

Bremner had an outstanding showing, as he got the very best from his body in setting personal best times in both his events.

“I really enjoyed the experience of the championships, meeting new friends and watching all the other athletes.,” he said.

“I came second in my 800m heat which meant I made the 800m final 24hrs later, (where) I came sixth in 2:19.71 which was a one-second personal best.

“I came seventh in the 1500m in 4:38.50 which was a massive seven seconds better than my previous personal best, and I also beat all the Victorians which was one of my goals.

“I'm looking forward to heading into the Cross-Country season, where my goal is to make the Victorian team.”