Grange sprinter Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera to run for Australia at next month’s Oceania Games

AUSTRALIA’S fastest man Patrick Johnson is helping Grange sprinter Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera prepare to run for his country for the first time.

Sprinter Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera will represent Australia at the Oceania Games in the C

AUSTRALIA’S fastest man is helping Grange sprinter Tjimarri Sanderson-Milera prepare to run for his country for the first time.

Patrick Johnson, whose 9.93sec sprint is the Australian 100m record, has been giving Sanderson-Milera training tips ahead of next month’s Oceania Games in the Cook Islands.

They began chatting online in February after the 20-year-old Port Adelaide Athletics Club runner contacted Johnson via Facebook.

“He’s been helping me out a bit and given me a gym program to follow,” says Sanderson-Milera, who will compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the Games.

“I need to put on a bit more muscle and do a bit more strengthening so I asked him for some tips.

“If I have a question I want to ask him, I’ll flick him a message and he’ll answer it.

“Being an Aboriginal, he’s been an inspiration to me wanting to get to that level as well.”

Sanderson-Milera aims to record personal-best times at the Games.

A right knee injury hindered the latter part of his season but he managed to win a silver medal in the open 200m at the state league titles in March and three golds at the state surf lifesaving championships that same month.

He also picked up three sash wins in the SA Athletic League this past season, finished fourth in the Bay Sheffield Gift and was this month named Port’s Open Male Athlete of the Year for the second straight year.

Despite his form, Sanderson-Milera says his national selection was a surprise.

“I had no idea what my chances were of getting picked.

“I’m stoked to represent the country and the (national) team in another country.”

It has been a rapid rise in athletics for Sanderson-Milera, who has a background in surf lifesaving.

He did not become a pro runner until 2009, when his Grange Surf Lifesaving Club coach, Peter Burdett, introduced him to the sport.

Sanderson-Milera says his long-term goal is to run at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.