Olympian Andrew Buchannan visited the Kyabram Little Athletics during its last meet for the season, capping off a successful year.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Kyabram Little Athletics celebrated its 30th anniversary with an Olympic-sized finale, capping off a triumphant year for the local sports community.
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Andrew Buchannan, a two-time national marathon champion and hot off his appearance in the 2024 Paris Olympics, made his way down to the Kyabram P-12 College Oval on Wednesday, December 11 to surprise the little athletes at their last meet for the year.
The Colac-born Olympian thrilled the youngsters by demonstrating his warm-up routine, sharing Olympic-calibre drills, and even trying his hand at javelin alongside the budding athletes.
Mr Buchannan also held a Q&A session with the kids.
He said it was very enjoyable being able to speak and engage with the kids and see how a little athletics centre like Kyabram’s worked.
President of the Kyabram Little Athletics, Claudia Moore, said it was great to be able to top the year off with his visit.
“For some of the athletes, it was a pretty exciting time... (but) I think their parents were more excited,” Ms Moore said.
She said in 2024 the centre had a record number of registered athletes in over 15 years, with 162 young ones taking to the track and field this year.
The Kyabram branch also boasted five teams who qualified for the State Relay Championship, a record held for the past 10 years.
“Celebrating 30 years this year is another fantastic achievement for the centre after a near-folding 10 years ago,” she said.
“We have built back our numbers from 40 registered athletes, as well as built (on) the capacity of our committee to provide the best opportunities for the kids in our community.”
Free Press photographer Aidan Briggs was there to catch all of the Olympic action.
Olympian Andrew Buchannan ran the Ky Little Athletics team through a few drills and a warm up session.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Andrew Buchannan posed with the successful athletes of the season who achieved three or more personal bests in a night. They each received a sponsored voucher.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Andrew Buchannan with some 162 little athletes for this years end-of-year meet.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
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