There were also those magical moments that made good television. Who could not forget Peter Bol and his expanded family in Perth watching the 800m with great expectation and support? His story to overcome hurdles to attain Olympic selection was inspirational.

Then there was Ashley Moloney and his courageous bronze in what is perhaps the most gruelling of all track and field events, the decathlon. Struggling as he was in the 1500m leg of the decathlon, teammate Cedric Dubler shouted encouragement at him, sacrificing his own position in the field to ensure his mate made it across the line to earn bronze.

Nicola McDermott won Australia's second ever women's high jump silver medal breaking the Australian record three times in doing so and only just missing the gold medal winning height of 2.04m. The first was by Michelle Brown 60 years ago in Tokyo.

There are so many brave stories. These stories also inspire the next generation of athletes; they provide the role models, work ethic and the examples of mateship which are a positive inspiration to upcoming athletes who may face hurdles in achieving their dreams.

Fifteen-year-old Naomi Gibson is a strong, capable athlete who has only trained for one very short COVID interrupted season. Working in two areas of athletics, Naomi trains with the Danszak Training Squad at Albion Park in middle distance track and then travels all the way up to Beaton Park to train in pole vaulting with perhaps one of the best country-based pole vaulting squads in NSW (Gong Vaulters).

Naomi only began her athletics journey in August 2020. In the following nine months she made a big impact on her events. Naomi won bronze medals in pole vault at the NSW All Schools (her first ever competition) and the NSW Junior Championships. She also competed at the Australian Junior Championships placing 4th overall and the 1st NSW athlete.

Naomi is also a very talented track athlete, also competing in the 400m and 800m events at competitions and only missing a national qualifying time in the 800m by 0.9sec. The following results need to take into account that Naomi has had only several months of interrupted training and no competition experience.

2020 NSW All Schools Championships, December 3-6, 2020, 3rd 14 years pole vault 2.30m, 11th 14 years 800m 2.27.48.

2021 NSW Junior Championships Saturday, March 12, 2021, 3rd U16 pole vault 2.50m, 6th U16 400m 60.88sec.

2021 Australian Championships, April 12-19, 2021 4th U16 pole vault 2.85m. (An improvement of 55cm in four months). This outstanding jump elevated her to 5th in National Rankings as at April 2021.

For her effort and improving results, Naomi was offered a place in the ANSW's Targeted Talent Program. Athletics Wollongong is very keen to follow Naomi on her athletics journey, and see where it leads her.

The Gong Vaulters Group has had great success over many years, with many squad members achieving success at State and National level. They've been starved of vaulting of late and are keen to share their passion with those excited to give the sport a go.

It's recommended for those 12 and over, with speed, height and body positioning awareness all being traits that can make progression easier. Masters athletes are welcome too; there's no upper age limit. If you're interested, contact athleticswollongong@gmail.com

Congratulations go to former member Teagan Berry on her performance in the winning of the Tarsha Gale Cup and Under 19 NSW State of Origin team. Teagan debuted for the Dragons women's team last season and scored a try on debut. When she was a member of Athletics Wollongong she won three medals in the U18 category at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships: silver in the 100m and gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

The Illawarra Academy of Sport is seeking applicants for their AWD program. This program deals with athletes who will fit into one of the para athletics grouping and are keen to train. There is a promo pic attached to this article. Applications close on August 27th. For more info search: https://ias.org.au/awd/

The IAS has used one of our athletes Patrick Mitchell in this season's promotional brochure. Patrick, is one of three Athletics Wollongong Para Athletes who are benefitting from the input of the IAS. The other two are Charlize Colwell and Rosie Boyland. We also have two athletes in the IAS Lonestar Program, Tayissa Buchanan and Miller Siasat. The Lonestar Program is not AWD focused, so if you are an outstanding athlete at least contact the IAS and maybe you qualify. Ages for the AWD program are generally13-18, with some discretion outside of that age grouping.

Have you been inspired by the Olympics and are very keen to get out there and run, jump and throw after COVID, then Athletics Wollongong may be the club for you. We are an Athletics NSW affiliated club. We also provide a second tier of competition for Little Athletics athletes who are older than the Under 12 category. Registrations open mid-late Sept. Our series of relaxed and social athletic meets for all ages and abilities are scheduled to begin on October 6.

If you are new to the scene, then Athletics NSW has created some material you can access via, https://www.nswathletics.org.au/get-involved/membership/.

www.athleticswollongong.org.au and on Facebook