By ADEM SARICAOGLU
IN THE span of nine months, James Hogg has progressed from modest weekend basketballer to elite junior sprinter.
The 14-year-old Keilor runner gave athletics a go after a severe finger injury forced him away from the hoops.
Hogg snapped the tendon in his right ring finger and required a tendon graft, bringing his basketballing exploits to a halt.
“My dad and I were just playing basketball and he had a shot and I jumped up to grab the rebound and my finger got weaved into the net and got tangled,” Hogg explained.
“As I’ve come down it’s pulled my finger and instead of breaking the bone or anything, it snapped the tendon in my finger. So I couldn’t play for a few months.”
Quickly realising a busted finger means hardly anything if you’re fast, Hogg switched his attention to the track and has since become one of Australia’s most promising young sprinters.
At his first state all-schools championship event at Albert Park in October, Hogg blitzed the field to win the 100m title in 11.55 seconds, before following up in the 200m with a 23.45 – good enough for his second gold.
Soon Hogg was up in Townsville competing at the national all-schools event – where as a bottom-ager he added two bronze medals to his growing collection in the 200m and the 4x100m relay.
Come the turn of the calandar Hogg was at it again, with another state championship gold in the 200m in February.
And as recently as last month at the Australian junior championships, Hogg completed his stunning start to his running career with gold and bronze in the 200m and 100m events respectively.
“I’m very, very surprised. I didn’t think I’d come this far in such a short time,” Hogg said.
“I look at the other kids and how they’ve trained nearly all their lives to get to where I am, but I’ve gotten to where I am in five months which has really surprised me and shocked me.
“As I started I knew I was quick but I never thought state or national level would come so fast. It’s just amazing.”
Basketball has now become a hobby of the past as Hogg looks to take his talents across the world.
With an eye for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Hogg now hopes to break the 22-second barrier in the 200m and lower his 100m personal best time to 10.8.
