TEN-YEAR-OLD Sam Edmunds from St Peter’s Public School Port Macquarie is aiming for the sky – literally.
Sam’s dream is to compete in the Olympics in high jumping, and he took a step towards his goal at the state primary school championships in Homebush last weekend, taking out the under-10 high-jump competition from 39 other students.
Sam will now go on to the national finals in Brisbane on 22 November.
The youngster jumped 1.38m, a personal best by eight centimetres, to win on a countback from another boy who cleared the same height, but missed more jumps along the way.
“I was absolutely blown away,” proud mum Tania Edmonds said. “It sounds silly but I actually cried.”
Sam attributes his new personal best and winning to his training at Little Athletics, and tips from an ex-Commonwealth Games high jumper he met there a few weeks ago, a man he and his mum know only as ‘Gavin’.
“If Gavin is reading this, we’d love some more coaching. He only gave Sam some tips once but it really helped,” Tania said.
They also thanked Sam’s teachers at St Peter’s.
“St Peter’s don’t actually have the high jump as an option but they went out of their way to help Sam, borrowing some equipment,” Tania said.
The Edmonds believe another factor in his improved performance was learning muay thai, a form of fighting, which had helped with his balance and strength.
