Weekly Newsletter – September 9

Registrations are open

Registrations with Little Athletics Victoria will be open from 10am on Thursday the 8th of September. All returning athletes will receive an email from LAVic with instructions regarding signing up for the coming season. The cost of the 12 months will remain at $170 this season. Those families with more than 1 child can receive a $5 discount per child.

If you need help to register please contact Katie on 0403 819391 or LAVic office on 9960 8600.

Those returning for the season must have paid for their membership prior to the first round of competition. Every effort will be made to keep members up to date on when training and competition can resume. As we did last Summer, the committee will remain flexible with regard to how competition is run to maximise the opportunity for athletics competition to go ahead.

New athletes are welcome to try athletics. We offer 2 weeks of a free trial to those who have not been members of Little Athletics before. To take up this offer please go to the lavic.com.au website to register your details.

Cross Country concludes

Cross Country 2021 for our community at Yarra Ranges Athletics had come to a rather sudden stop at the announcement of Lockdown 6. While we hoped and waited for restrictions to lift, the door has been closed on us finishing the Cross country season with any further races for our athletes. The committee of YRA would like to thank our members for their patience during this frustrating time. We were lucky to hold 9 of our regular Saturday morning Cross Country meets at 4 of our beautiful locations over the last 6 months. Knox Open Day was our only inter-centre round for those of us lucky to compete. We did miss the Region & State Cross Country Championships and the State Cross Country Relays.

We will not be able to hold our Presentation this weekend like we had planned, we would still like to celebrate the achievements of our athletes for the 2021 season. For those who have participated in 4 or more of our regular programs we will award trophies. This year will not be possible to award, Gold, Silver and Bronze with limited rounds. There will not be a presentation event, but we will have trophies ready to pick up when restrictions allow.

During a normal season there would be opportunities for awards and medals at Championship Day and Handicap Day, unfortunately they were not held this year. Each age group will have medals awarded to the top 3 athletes based on results during the rounds we did complete. You must have participated in 4 or more rounds to be eligible for a medal. It will be less than perfect, but the committee will work hard to recognise the best performing athletes for these awards.

Please look out for the announcement in the coming week for our Cross Country Athletes.

Thank you to everyone who made it down to YRA Cross Country, even for one round, and an even bigger thank you to all of the volunteers who made it possible. YRA thanks everyone who made our brief cross season the success that it was, and we look forward to seeing everybody back on the hills next season!

A paralympic games to remember

By Sascha Ryner of Athletics Australia. To read the full article, click the link below

Australian athletics is celebrating a Paralympic Games to remember, with a medal haul that includes 4 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze medals.

The 36-strong team made their mark on Tokyo with several inspiring performances at Japan National Stadium, but it was the Australian spirit displayed that captured the hearts of new and old fans alike.

Australia placed 11th out of 56 nations on the Paralympic Athletics Placing Table, with the team delivering 2 world records, 12 area records, 5 Paralympic Games records, plus 9 personal best performances and 35 season bests across the 10 days of competition.

While each day provided highlights to those watching on from home, there were moments that will go down in the record books as truly unforgettable.

Madison de Rozario (Louise Sauvage) won gold in a nail-biting finish in the marathon T54, James Turner (Iryna Dvoskina) claimed a gold and silver to maintain his title as king of the sprints, and two-time Paralympians Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saunders) and Isis Holt (Paul Pearce) won medals in each of their respective events. Vanessa Low (Iryna Dvoskina) won her first Paralympic gold medal as an Australian citizen with a world record jump of 5.28m, and Michal Burian (Nick Baltas) thanked his adopted country as he sailed his javelin to a world record in the F44 class to claim his country silver.

Athletics Australia CEO Peter Bromley said the efforts of the 36 Paralympic track and field athletes must be applauded, with the team defying the odds in an extremely difficult Games cycle.

“The Australian Para-athletics Team for Tokyo faced challenges unparalleled by any other Australian team that came before them, yet rose to the occasion and made this one of the most memorable Games. For that, I am incredibly proud,” Bromley said.

“Not only did this team face the hurdles that many of us did during the pandemic, there was a distinct lack of elite competition for our Para-athletes to enjoy, making results difficult to determine in the lead up to these Games.

“Despite this, the team won four gold medals, up from three at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and added seven silver medals and eight bronze to the tally, for Australia to place 11th on the Athletics medal tally.

“Remarkably 86 per cent of our athletes placed in the top 8 and 14 of those 36 athletes won a medal. We must applaud these athletes, and celebrate each of the top-eight performances, Area records, personal bests and season bests, because for a lot of these athletes – their best is still yet to come.

“While our team enters quarantine today, there is no stopping our Australian Para-athletics Team. Next year you will see many of these athletes star at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, and their goal will be to continue their momentum in the lead up to Paris 2024.

“If you haven’t already got behind this team, I strongly encourage you to get to know each and every one of our athletes. This team has had a big impact on our sport and will no doubt continue this trend and inspire more Australians with and without disabilities to get involved in our great sport.”

Don Cruse