Usain Bolt selects Aussie juniors for Nitro Athletics All-Stars team
THE kid dubbed “the next Craig Mottram” is one of four Australians selected in Usain Bolt’s All-Stars team for next month’s Nitro Athletics.
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THE kid dubbed “the next Craig Mottram” is one of four Australians selected in Usain Bolt’s All-Stars team for next month’s Nitro Athletics.
Bolt on Wednesday finalised his team for the revolutionary event, adding the promising juniors to a team loaded with international stars.
World junior championships 1500m finalist Matthew Ramsden, pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, World University Games long jump bronze medallist Naa Anang and three-time national 800m champion Brittany McGowan have been picked for the All-Stars.
Ramsden, 19, has drawn comparisons with Mottram, Australia’s best distance runner of the modern era, because of his tall frame and dominant performances at junior level.
He easily defeated a strong field in the under-20 3000m at the Zatopek 10 meeting in Melbourne last month.
Kennedy, 19, made her first senior Australian team at the 2015 world championships in Beijing, but missed qualification for the Rio Olympics.
The four were overlooked for the Australian team which was announced last week.
Bolt’s line-up is impressive, with the world’s fastest man joined by Rio Olympic 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement and Beijing Olympic 100m hurdles champion Dawn Harper Nelson.
Jamaica’s ex-100m world record holder Asafa Powell, fellow Olympic relay gold medallist Michael Frater, and world championship gold medallists Christine Day (4x400m) and Natasha Morrison (4x100m) will also be at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday week.
Two of America’s fastest women — 2012 Olympic relay gold medallist Jeneba Tarmoh and Olympic 200m semi-finalist Jenna Prandini — are also part of the All-Stars.
The nine-time Olympic champion, who will retire after this year’s world championships in London, released his final team line-up on Twitter to his four-and-a-half million followers.
“I’m happy to have the four young Australians ... it’s going to be tough for them when we hand Team Australia some trouble, but they are on my team now,” Bolt said.
“Of course I’m going to bring my fellow Jamaicans, they were the first to be picked.
“The team has so much talent across all the events so I’m expecting us to put on a good show, and win, of course.
“It’s going to be fun, I can’t wait to get down to Melbourne, see the crowd and be part of something that will change the sport of track and field.”
Two world-class para-athletes have also been selected in Bolt’s All-Stars including US sprinter Jarryd Wallace, a former world record holder in both the T44 100m and 200m.
Australia’s team is headlined by Olympic finalists including Ryan Gregson, Morgan Mitchell, Genevieve LaCaze, Fabrice Lapierre and Brooke Stratton.
Originally published as Usain Bolt selects Aussie juniors for Nitro Athletics All-Stars team
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