Dean Park’s Amy Watson wins International Wind Games title
The first month of 2018 has flown by for Dean Park bodyflight athlete Amy Watson as she wins award after award.
Blacktown
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She’s made a name for herself as a prodigy on the world “bodyflight” circuit and it seems nothing can weigh Amy Watson down.
The 12-year-old has regularly beaten out older and more experienced athletes at the world’s best indoor skydiving tournaments since she fell into the sport three years ago.
Her winning ways continued this month when she took out the inaugural junior freestyle title at the International Wind Games in Spain.
Amy described her journey so far as “every kid’s dream”.
“It feels amazing to be part of an awesome, supportive community,” she said.
The Dean Park resident is one of the top bodyflight athletes in the sport, and has gained a lucrative sponsorship from Hungarian body flying sports club the Space Devils.
On Saturday she was named Blacktown’s Junior Sports Person of the Year.
She said the hardest part about the sport was coming up with new routines, and she took inspiration from other sports including gymnastics and ice skating.
“There are a lot of cool moves ... you’ve got to keep trying things to see if they work,” Amy said. “The same judges are at a lot of tournaments so you need to keep staying fresh.”
Dad Allan Watson said he never imagined what started out as a hobby would take his daughter around the world.
“It makes you a very proud parent,” he said.
Amy now has six months to prepare to defend her Australian title in August, before jetting off to Bahrain for October’s world championships.
But it’s the idea of future Olympic glory that most fascinates the Watsons. There is a campaign to include bodyflight at upcoming Games.
“That would be pretty amazing,” Amy said. “Not a lot of people know about the sport but that would help.”
Mr Watson said the French Minister for Sport Laura Flessel’s recently backing the sport ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics was a good sign.
“If you can get a medal for walking surely you can get one for body flying,” he said.
- Video by Zac Watson