LOCAL sprinting star Poppy Robinson took her talent interstate during the school holidays, winning medals at both the Australian Little Athletics Championships (ALACs) and Australian Athletics Junior Championships (AAJCs) held in Brisbane.
Starting her five days of competition with the under-13s 200m at the ALACs, Poppy won gold in a meet-record time of 25.04s, holding her form to the end to beat out competitors from all across the country.
She backed that up with another gold in the under-13s 400m on the second day, a performance that her mum Skye Bryans said showed her determination to win.
“She’s quick, but with her 400 … she’s going toe-to-toe with the girl that comes second, and really it was her mental toughness that got her to the line,” she said.
She finished the ALACs by running the third leg of the under-13 4x100m relay, and secured a third gold medal in a meet record of 49.61s alongside some of the best Victorian girls in her age group. But then it was over to the AAJCs.
Competing against an even stronger crop of athletes, Poppy dropped the 400m for the 100m and added the mixed 4x200m relay to her already busy schedule.
She started with the 200m again, finishing third with a similar time to her ALACs efforts a couple of days earlier, and backed it up with a superb run in the 4x100m to help Victoria claim gold.
Poppy then ran a blistering 12.41s the next afternoon in the 100m to come in second place, and finished off her debut at the AAJCs in the mixed 4x200m, where the Victorian team finished third.
Across the two meets, Poppy finished with four gold medals, a silver and two bronzes. She told the Review: “I just tried my best and I was happy with the results.”
“The 400m race (was my favourite) because it was the most challenging and the most satisfying.”
Talking about the way her daughter approached the competition, Mrs Bryans said: “To her, it’s just another race. It’s not the next step or anything like that. And I said to her, ‘you don’t understand, this is a national competition. This is the best in Australia, it’s an unbelievable achievement’.”
“To think she’s one of the quickest kids in Australia is pretty weird.”
