Mackay’s James Galea shines at North Queensland Athletics Championships

Brisbane 2032 hopeful James Galea shone at the recent North Queensland Athletics Championships. Discover the unique story behind his success.

James Galea was fortunate enough to receive some sage advice from Matt Denny two years ago while the Olympic icon was competing in Mackay.

It was as simple as widening his stance.

But it improved Galea’s throw by four metres.

That was one of the many moments and corrections along Galea’s never-ending quest for improvement that have shaped his discus technique; one that he hopes will one day lead him to follow in Denny’s footsteps and achieve an Olympic berth.

“That is the ultimate goal,” Galea said of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, but he hopes he can get to that level sooner.

“I’m trying to aim for the 2028 Olympics right now, but the people that are up there now have been throwing so well, it’s insane.”

James Galea doesn't confine himself to discus. Picture: supplied.

Galea himself too has been throwing well, coming within 42 centimetres of his personal best to claim gold in the under-18 discus at the North Queensland Athletics Championships over the weekend.

Crucially, he cracked the 50-metre mark with a 50.24m throw.

“I’m really trying to throw a personal best, I’m trying to throw at least 50,” Galea said leading into the event.

“All my training this year has been leading up to this competition so as I get closer and closer to it I’ve been getting closer to (50m).”

It was a successful weekend for Galea, who also claimed gold in the under-18 shot put, hammer throw, and throw pentathlon; plus silver in javelin.

In the open-age events, he won silver in discus and gold in shot put.

His feats are all the more impressive when you consider Galea’s self-taught.

“We don’t have coaches out here (in Mackay),” he said.

“My father helped me a bit at the start but it got to a point where he didn’t really know how to help me anymore.

“A lot of my training has been self-taught, whereas the guys I go against have these coaches that they pay a lot of money for because they live in the major cities.

A towering figure, James Galea stands at 6'7. Picture: supplied.

“The other coaches come up to me and they go, ‘oh who’s your coach,’ but I kind of have to do it by myself because of where I live.”

Galea’s discus pursuits have had to back a seat this year however, with the St Patrick’s College student’s year 12 exams taking priority. He’ll have his hands full too, studying six subjects which includes physics, chemistry, specialist maths and maths methods.

But he’s eyeing next year’s under-20 world championships in Peru.

“I’d definitely love to try and qualify for that, but it’s hard because it’s my underage year,” Galea said.

It wouldn’t be Galea’s first foray into international competition, having previously competed at the under-18 Oceania Championships.

James Galea's experience at the Oceania Championships in June last year would spark a period of rapid improvement, with his throw increasing by 12 metres over the next six months. Picture: supplied.

He came seventh with a 36m throw, but has come on in leaps and bounds since.

He hopes to continue that upward trajectory, needing to improve his current best by another six metres to hit the 56.5m Olympic qualifying benchmark.

“I have a five to six-month off-season after this event because I’m not attending states or nationals,” he said.

“It’s just going to be a lot of speed and weights because I’m not doing any of that, and once I do that it will help with certain parts of my technique that I’m struggling with.

“I’m moving down to Brisbane next year for university so hopefully I can get a coach down there and that should help me progress up after that.”

Olympics or not, it’s the pursuit of improvement that drives Galea’s passion, luring him to pick up the discus time and time again.

“I’m a very analytically-minded person, and trying to figure out the technique and get into that perfect position…” he said.

“There’s something about when you get a throw and you feel yourself hitting the right position after so much work, it’s just the most amazing feeling.”