Michayla Espie: Penrith teenager to compete at 2023 Australian Little Athletics Championships
A western Sydney teenager and junior athlete – who has her sights set on taking part in a home Olympic Games – will be competing for glory at the Little Athletics National Championships.
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A western Sydney teenager and junior athlete who has her sights set on the Olympics will this weekend compete in the Little Athletics national championships, where she will be giving shot put, discus and javelin her best shots.
High school student Michayla Espie, 15, has been training with Little Athletics for more than six years and is heading to Melbourne to represent NSW against Australia’s best young athletes at the 2023 Coles Australian Little Athletics Championships.
Athletes between the ages of 13 and 16 have been selected from all over the nation to compete based on their individual performance at state level Little Athletics.
Espie said she was “honoured” to have been selected.
“It is a privilege and an honour to be selected to represent our state, I’m feeling pretty confident going in, hoping to smash my personal bests for all three sports,” she said.
Espie is still riding high from her recent success at the Australian Athletics National Junior Championships in Brisbane, where she came first her age group for in discus, throwing 24.86m. On the same weekend Espie came second for javelin and third for shot put.
Looking toward the future Ms Espie has set her goals on making it to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“Making it to either the 2032 Olympics or Commonwealth Games would be awesome, that’s what I’m continuing to work towards,” she said. “So far it’s been six years of just train, train, train.”
In her spare time between school work and training, Espie turns her attention to encouraging even younger athletes – a Tiny Tots team at her club, Penrith Valley Little Athletics.
She said it was a role in which she loved helping other kids to do their best.
“If you have a dream make sure you push it and continue on your pathway,” she said.
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